He comes back, he always does
by QueenMayon
Summary: 17 year-old Charlie Emily was the daughter of Henry, the creator of the animatronics and the co-owner of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Many people blamed him for the childrens' disappearances as he was the owner, but Charlie knew that wasn't true. Another man had been behind it. A man whom she later put an end to herself, or at least she thought. (OG posted 8/14/16 on my AO3)
1. He's back

How could she have been so stupid? She should've known there would've been more, that it wouldn't just end there. But, she couldn't have known! Nobody could've known.. Such abilities aren't something that's even thought about. Thought to even be real or possible, yet he had them. He had control over the timeline. Control over his own demise. He could go back before it, to change what had happened in the past. He still remembered everything. Unlike her friends, so did Charlie. She didn't know why.. maybe it was because he was now only fixated on her. Though, she doesn't know, if remembering is better or worse. She tried to replay, what had happened, all the new events that had replaced over the old. She thought back to the beginning of all this. The start of this new timeline.

She woke up in the morning to Marla knocking loudly on the door, she was very confused to find herself back in the hotel room with Jessica. She found herself questioning why she was back in Hurricane. She looked at the date on the calendar that she brought with and found that it was once again 17th. Her mind raced with ways of trying to explain this, but once again Marla knocked on the door. Albeit a bit louder this time. She quickly got up and opened the door, just like she remembered Marla went straight in for the hug. Charlie felt her stomach sink. This can't be happening When Marla pulled away, she said the exact same things as well. She stepped back and motioned towards her little brother. Why was she being introduced to Jason again? What was going on? Why was she back to the 17th, doing something she already did? Was this a severe case of déjà vu? No, that wouldn't make sense. Déjà vu doesn't work that way. But, somehow, she was back to day when they went to Michael's memorial. This all felt so surreal.

 _This isn't right, this isn't possible! I already did all of this!_ she thought. Though she soon realized that when she tried asking her friends, they didn't seem to understand, they claimed they never did this and perhaps she was just experiencing déjà vu. Once she heard this, she tried to keep to herself. When she thought about it, it was a lot like the movie Groundhog Day, in the sense that it was some sort of time loop. Was it though? She was having a hard time believing it was herself. I mean, a time loop that's crazy. Then again, she had dealt with possessed animatronics. Maybe the idea of a time loop wasn't so crazy. But if it was, then she needed to know why. Why did this happen? What caused it? She pondered it all morning, trying desperately to think of an answer. Here she was, getting all dressed up once again to go to the memorial she had already attended. She was back, after driving here, meeting her old friends, going to Freddy's for the first time in forever. She was all the way back, to the week that changed her life forever.

Am I just going crazy? She thought, mind racing for an explanation. I mean with what I've gone through, I wouldn't be surprised. While she was in the car, on the way to the diner, she decided to pinched herself. Just like they always do in the movies, to check to see if they were awake. She pressed her skin together and felt the sharp pain, she winced. This was real... ,she thought to herself. What was going to happen now? What would change? What would happen if she did try to changed what happened? How different would things be? Next thing she knew she was getting out of the car and heading into the diner. The loud music playing and the people chatting broke her away from thought. And she took in her surroundings before sitting down. She looked at Marla and asked, "Ever eat here before?" _Godammit! Why did I say that?!_

"Uh, no. Haven't been back to Hurricane remember?" She chuckled. Charlie felt heat rise to her face.

"Of course, sorry. I just- sorry," She went quite. A few of them looked at her questioningly before returning back to look at their menus. John though didn't take his eyes off her. She could see it in her peripheral vision. She looked at the menu in front of her. Maybe she should just focus on the trying to understand what's happening.

The waitress came to their table and they ordered their food. Before she knew it, the food was being passed out and she was eating. To her surprise, her talking about something she didn't talk about last time, didn't affect what Marla said. Because she still decided to talk about her grandma, the dolls, and ghosts. They got into the argument about whether ghosts were real or not. From the last run, Charlie's thoughts about spirits and memories, were even more solidified. Before she believed in memories roaming in familiar areas. But now, she knew for sure that spirits exist. The kids, they were still there. Thanks to this 'reset', they were pulled back from their freedom and put into unrest, once again. Forced to linger in the god forsaken place once more. But do they even remember that they were freed? Or do they not.. There were so many things she still wasn't sure about. But one things for sure, she didn't want to find out. Charlie joined into the conversation, trying to repeat everything she had said last time, word by word. She got lucky the first time, but this time. She didn't want to screw something up. The butterfly effect. The movies were well known for showing this, 'the simplest of screw ups leading to cataclysmic events'. She didn't want the possibility of that actually happening. The time to leave, had arrived and they finished their breakfast. She walked out to the car and once again sat in the backseat. She needed more time to accept this.

On their way, she stared out the window. Deciding to take a break from thinking, she instead wanted to see if any new buildings were up, or if any of the old stores were still open. But unfortunately, Hurricane wasn't a large town. So the trip was short, but with what little time she had, she watched as the scenery flew by. The dusty, dirt ground, off road terrain, with all the short pale green grass and trees that was covering large chunks of the area. Hurricane was the desert, but it tried it's hardest to be the Midwest. The short, flat mountains around the town and the tall brown plateaus far off in the distance as well as the desert. She really was back in Hurricane, Utah. Back in this weird little town that looked so lush and green, and so out of place among the miles of plateaus and desert like landscapes. She saw the sand dune area where the kids rode there bikes up and down the slopes. Looking up and beyond that, was the out of place snow caps mountains in the distance. And of course who could forget the fact that Zion National Park was close nearby, she used to go up there a lot when she was kid. This small town was a place she once called home, a place she loved and cherished... Now, it was nothing more than a sight for sore eyes, a nostalgia trip. A place where nothing ever seemed to go right for her and some unfortunate others. She was brought back to reality, when they parked in the school lot. The sight of the school gave her another wave of nostalgia. They existed the car and went out to the football field, sitting in the front row of the silver metal bleachers.

Being out here, surrounded by so many people, so much talking, made her feel disoriented. Not to mention the fact that the summer heat along with the bright sun beat down on them all. She and many other had to squint just to see. She practically missed the whole speech, since she couldn't focus to well. Unlike last time, when she had nothing to think about. And when she had suppressed all of her childhood memories. When she thought the worse was over and there was nothing to fear. She finally just gave up and went back into deep thought.

She realized that now, she would have to face what was ahead. Jesus, she didn't want to go through all that crazy shit again. She thought about the animatronics, how they narrowly survived the first time. How her leg got torn open. And how it was just oozing blood. This time around, she didn't think they would. Everything was instinct then, a race for survival, an improv. She knew that if they faced it all again, she would be thinking too much about it, she'd try to copy what she did last time, and instead of focusing on survival, she'd probably get killed from not being focused on the present. However, she was only of the animatronics, the dead kids. She wasn't even thinking of the real threat... Dave. She didn't want to meet him again. Not even lay eyes on him. Let alone, talk to him.

The thought of him made her ponder though, would it really matter if she didn't kill him this time around. Would it really change much? Would a lot of things that she did really matter in the long run if she didn't do them again? Would it cause a butterfly effect? I mean, her actions at the time, they were just sort of, spur of the moment. She killed him, to bring justice for the victims. Michael and the other children. How much of a difference would it make, knowing everything that's going to happen. Would it be bad, if she tried to change anything? Even if it was the tiniest action. What would the consequences be? And how bad would they be? If there were none, would it still make her a bad person. Not doing it. All this questioning choices and morality was making her head hurt. She wanted to avoid him, plain and simple. She's going to stay at the hotel and never go back there, period.

She was beginning to feel her stomach churn and twist, all this worrying was causing her to feel queasy. The speech was over, she even missed Carlton speak, she was so deep in thought. They made there way onto the field and talked to Michael's parents, which admittedly, was nice. She was glad she got to see them again, hear their voices. Once they had, they went and looked at Michael's art. His masterpieces, as she saw them. She wished that she could draw that well. Finally, they left. They walked from the foot ball to the front of the school and Charlie felt like she was going to vomit.

"Hey Charlie?" Jessica asked. Charlie broke from thought and turned to her as they stepped off the sidewalk, onto the black pavement.

"Yeah," she replied.

"Are you ok?" Jessica asked. She guessed, that Jessica could tell something was up.

"Yeah Charlie, You've looked very tense and sick all morning," John said. She looked back and forth to the two of them. They looked legitimately concerned.

"Oh, yeah. I have felt a bit queasy, I think it's probably just a little stomach bug," Charlie responded trying to put on a smile. The others looked at one another and just decided to drop it. They got to Marla's car.

"Can I play my game now?" Jason said immediately, and Marla found her keys in her purse and handed them over.

"Don't drive away," she warned. Suddenly, Marla grabbed her brother and pulled him close, hugging him to her for a long minute. Charlie's eyebrows raised a bit and she realized that Marla was hugging Jason, because she was just reminded of losing Michael all those years ago. She didn't want to lose her little brother too. Charlie felt an urge to hug Marla, but left her be.

"Jeez, I'm only going to the car," he muttered when she let him go.

"Yeah, maybe I should let you drive away," she said, giving him a little push. She cleared her throat. "So are we going to Freddy's?" she asked. Charlie's heart sank.

"No!" She blurted out. The others looked at her. "I mean, I don't think it's a good idea to go."

"Charlie, I thought you of all people would want to go?" Marla asked. Charlie coughed.

"Well, like I said, I'm not feeling good. I just want to go back to the hotel," she lied.

"Well, you don't have to come with us Charlie. You can go back to the hotel and we'll go to Freddy's," Jessica said. Charlie's heart skipped a beat. That was even worse. Leaving them by themselves with Dave or the animatronics was a horrible idea.

"No, I'll come. I wouldn't want you guys to have all the fun, now would I?" She joked, putting on a fake smile. The others looked at each other concerned. Before once again deciding to drop it.

Charlie, instead of going back to her old house, this time she went back to the hotel and changed into something more comfortable. She hoped the private discussion with John at her house in the prior run wouldn't have any major impacts on the future.

The gang headed back to the pizzeria. She knew that the second time they came, they didn't meet Dave. But it still unnerved her, how close they came to meeting him. Once again though, they hid from him and weren't caught. But it still terrified Charlie, her heart was beating so fast in her chest when she heard him come near them. They listened as his footsteps moved away from them, and got quieter and quieter. She calmed herself down to a bored looking, unmoved composure that she had also put on last time. She didn't want them to notice. Everything was going to be fine, she told herself. You just need to stay calm.

She hung back while they one by one slipped through the door into the pizzeria. Finally, it was just her. Before she could take a step forward, a hand went over her mouth covering her face with some sort of wet cloth, she tried to scream and get away but the other hand wrapped around her torso and dragged her backwards without issue. Her adrenaline was pumping as she flailed in their grasp.

"Charlie?!" She heard her friends yell. This wasn't supposed to happen! This is wrong! Despite her mind racing, her senses began to go numb and she started to feel sleepy. Her vision was turning black. She heard her friend's footsteps coming towards her and one last scream of her name before blacking out.

Charlie felt groggy, her head throbbed in pain. She groaned. Her mind began trying to relay what happened. She remembered that she woke up in Hurricane, instead of at home with Aunt Jen. Then remembered the time loop. Her painful, pulsing headache, was making it hard for her to think. She cracked her eyes open just a bit and realized she wasn't at the hotel. She in a dark room, with a dull yellow light on the ceiling nearby. She must've been in a basement or downstairs room, because there was a window high on the wall touching the ceiling. And it must've been night out because all that came from it was darkness.

She blinked and tried to wake up a bit more. She went to move her right arm up to rub her eyes, but it was held back tightly by something. She moved her head to the right and looked down, something black was wrapped around her wrist. And was connected to a black strip that went off the side of the bed. Her eyes widen. She looked to her left and saw the same for her left arm. Then she leaned up and looked down, her bare feet were bound too. She sighed angrily and flopped back down. She wondered where she was. She wasn't in the pizzeria, she wasn't stuffed into a suit like Carlton, which was a relief. But she wasn't somewhere she knew. She could take a good guess who brought her here though.

She closed her eyes grumbled in frustration. She was too out of it, to feel fearful. She was mainly just annoyed. She heard a door open to her right. Her eyes opened and footsteps moved towards.

"Oh, good you're awake." Speak of the devil. She turned her head and looked at Dave, who was standing there, looking at her with a mug in his hands. He wasn't in his uniform anymore. He was in a dirty white undershirt and light blue ripped up jeans. With his arms exposed, she saw more scars that hadn't been able to see before. There were so many of them. No wonder he had kept them covered before.

"Where am I?" she asked, more like a demand. She didn't want to sound scared or unsure. She wanted to feel in charge and calm.

"My place," he said, taking a sip. He acted and looked so nonchalant, for a guy who just kidnapped someone. She was trying to recall what happened earlier. She remembered her friends shouting for her and running after her.

"Where are the others?" she asked worried for her friend's safety. She hoped he didn't lock them in there or kill them.

"Your friends?" he asked rhetorically. "I left them back at the mall. I was more worried about getting you into the back of my car." She closed her eyes and let out a small sigh of relief. She was glad to know they were alright. Dave pulled up a cushiony chair and sat down.

"Now, Charlie. I know, that you know this isn't the first time we've met," he stated. She looked at him, slightly furrowing her eyebrows.

"You remember?" she asked.

"If you're talking about the reset, then yes," he said "That's what I'm talking about at least."

"What happened?" she asked, hoping he knew the answers.

"Well, after you killed me. I used my ability to reset and fix things," he said. Her eyes widen.

"What?!" she asked.

"I had the ability to change my fate," he said. "I had the ability to stop what happened." He got up and walked over to the bed. She wanted to slide away from him, but she couldn't, not while being bound like this. She felt her blood run cold.

"And I made a decision," he said darkly. He loomed over her, the light hitting the back of him, causing his front to be covered in shadow. But his dead grey eyes, bored into her. She gulped.

"You're not leaving Hurricane, ever again."

Charlie was sweating and breathing heavily. Dave grinned at her before turning and walking towards the counter. He poured his drink into the sink and Charlie watched him intensely. She was freaking out. What was he going to do?! He turned on the water and rinsed out the sink.

"What are you going to do to me?" she finally mustered up the strength to ask. She was afraid to know the answer and almost regretted asking. Dave stopped for a second before turning to her, water still rushing.

"For right now, you're my guest," he said, before turning back to wash the mug with a red rag.

"Don't worry though, I'll take care of you. I'll feed you, I'll give you bathroom breaks, I'll let you bathe. I'm not completely heartless. Even if you were responsible for my demise," he stated. She swallowed nervously. So he wasn't going to kill her. That was a relief, she guessed. He turned the sink off and put the mug in one of the cabinets. She took a deep breath, she needed to be brave.

"My friends will come for me you know. J-just like we did for Carlton!" she said boldly. He began laughing hysterically, leaning over the counter.

"Oh- hahh. Charlie- hahhah, they don't even know me yet. At least, they would've gotten to know me in the old timeline. But now, they don't even know who I am, they can't deduce that I'm involved with this." He started calming down and took a few deep breaths before regaining himself.

"Even if there is a slight possibility that they do find you here, I won't hesitate to kill them," he said with a growing smile. "Charlie, I'm not going to play games this time around. I'm not going to let anyone stand in my way."

"Just like I said before you killed me, YOU are staying. And you are going to do, what. I. say," he said sternly with an wide grin on his face. Her throat tightened, restricting her oxygen intake.

"Now, I would suggest you get some sleep. There's not much to do during the night," he said. She looked around the room, there were no other rooms other than the shower and restroom as well as a closet.

"Where are you going to sleep?" she asked realizing she was on the only bed.

"I have some more work to do," he said walking towards the door to exit, of what she thought to be this apartment.

"Besides," he motioned to the chair he sat in earlier. "I can sleep sitting there, I've done it before." He turned off the dull room light and opened the door.

"See you in the morning Charlie," he said before leaving. She stared at the locked door for what felt like minutes. She was taking in the whole situation. The man whom she thought she killed, thought she had brought justice for the victims. He was back, he had reset his own death. And changed the events of what'll happen. He then kidnaps her, only to say she's his guest. She thought he would've just killed her for revenge. Why was he doing this? Why? Charlie looked up at the grey cement ceiling. She kinda forgot just how insane he was sometimes, how unpredictable he is. She remembered her and the others interrogating him, how he acted almost dead, for no explainable reason. She thought of them, the others…

"Jessica, John, Marla, Carlton, Lamar, Jason," she murmured. She thought of her friends. Their smiling faces. Their laughter. How even after all of these years, they still came together and acted as if nothing had changed.

"I miss you guys." She hoped that what he said wasn't true. That someone would come looking for her and find her. She hoped that maybe she'll wake up and she'll be home, with Aunt Jen. She'll get up, go downstairs to eat breakfast and Aunt Jen will complain about her not cleaning her room or getting a job. Charlie smiled. Aunt Jen. Man, she already missed home too.


	2. His first reset

"Charlie!" They all shouted, running after her. They followed the fast moving footsteps. Running after whoever had her. Jason, was falling behind, but it didn't matter. John was running the fastest, he was the most determined to catch this guy. Marla was breathing heavily, obviously getting worn out from all the running. Jessica's heels were slowing her. Lamar and Carlton were right behind John.

They began to notice they were being lead to the entrance of the mall, ahead, the large glass doors let the bright sunlight shine into the dark building. The man they had been chasing, they saw his silhouette against the bright white. He was a tall figure, and they could see that he was carrying Charlie.

"STOP!" John shouted angrily. The man ran out the front doors and into the parking lot. They were just about there. They ran through the doors, their feet loudly hitting the pavement of the parking lot, the light temporarily blinded them. A few seconds had past and they heard the man's footsteps running, while they were covering their eyes. John's eyes adjusted, so he immediately looked up and saw an older banged up grey car. Right in front of him, the driver side door slammed shut.

"STOP!" He shouted running towards it. The car started and the others ran up, following behind John. The car practically zoomed out of the parking lot, swiveling recklessly.

"DAMMIT!" John screamed while he stomped angrily. They all were panting and bending over, trying catch their breath. John growled. "God fucking Dammit!" his hands were on the side of his head, curling into his hair. "I wasn't fast enough. I should've tried harder! I should've done SOMETHING!" He pulling his hair painfully and his face was turning red from yelling.

"John calm down," Jessica said trying to settle him. "There was nothing more we could've done."

"There must've been something!" He yelled turning to her. She didn't respond. The others were finally catching their breath, when Jason ran up to the two.

"Who was that?! Was that the security guard?! Why did he take Charlie?!" He spurted out, his voice cracking multiple times. He was terrified and wheezing painfully. It was obvious that his body wasn't able to handle all of that fast long distance running like the others could. Jessica and John both looked at him.

"The security guard," Jessica said realizing the possibility. She looked up at John. "That could've been the security guard."

"Regardless," Lamar said butting in. They turned to him. "We need to call the cops, we did just witness a kidnapping."

"Yeah," Carlton butted in too. "My dad's the police chief remember? We need to tell him."

"But what are we going to say," Jessica added worried. "We didn't even see the guy."

"No, but we saw the car," John added almost looking excited. "Did anyone catch the number?"

"I did," Marla said quietly. They turned to her, she seemed nervous, almost shy like. She had been noticeably quiet this whole time. "And I saw the back of the man too." The others eyes' widen, they turned to each other, then back at Marla.

"Then we need to get to the station, now." Carlton stated.

* * *

Dave closed the door behind him and locked it. He reached into his right pants pocket and pulled out his keys. He walked down the carpeted hallway, up the stairs and out the front door of the almost uninhabited apartment complex. The owners were a married couple in their late 60's. They were about to go out of business, when Dave decided to rent a room. They were located in a bad spot, off the road. But Dave thought it was perfect. They even had a beautiful fountain. Dave had promised to do work and help fix any mechanical issue as well as reconstruct things, as long as he got to stay. They agreed and Dave has now been working there for years, getting payed little to nothing, but it didn't matter to him. The deal came with free plumbing and electric so it wasn't that much of a bother.

Dave walked down the concrete steps outside the building, to his car parked out front. Out here in the desert like areas, it got rather cold when the sun went down. He could see his own breath, he really wanted to get into his car and warm up. And he did, the engine took a few minutes to warm up, but soon enough the heat was flowing in. He put the car in drive and drove down the road. He was heading to Charlie's hotel.

He was going to pick up her things, so she had something different to wear, so she could brush her teeth, comb her hair, so she could have her own shampoo and conditioner. He smiled, thinking about her. How pretty she would look while combing her hair in front of the mirror. But then he thought about himself watching her. Looking up to see himself in the mirror. It immediately killed his mood, his smile dropped.

He, was not pretty. He thought about his own looks. His oily unkept hair, the bags under his eyes, his poorly shaven face, his yellow teeth, his saggy skin. He was definitely not pretty. Not like her... Not like them. He thought about Henry and Caroline.

Henry's young handsome features, his dark brown hair, his adorably awkward voice, his lack of proper social skills, the fact he was always off in his imagination. Then there was Caroline. She was gorgeous, practically a goddess. Her long light brown hair, her beautiful emerald green eyes, her million dollar smile, her kind and sweet domineer, she was like some fantasy princess, she was perfect in every way. And she, strangely, understood Henry, and they were adorable together. He thought about when they held hands, when they laughed, when talked to each other, when they kissed each other. They were perfect. They were such a beautiful couple.

Dave was smiling widely again, remembering them. Remembering all the time they spent together. He also remembered being on stage at the diner with them. Caroline had the voice of an angel, she would sing. While him and Henry, used the suits. Henry was Fredbear, while Dave was Spring Bonnie. Dave would play the guitar. While Henry sung along, doing his Fredbear voice. Both of them were dancing to the tune. And Dave was falling in love with both of their voices. It felt so magical.

When he was up there with them, he felt involved. He felt like they were a team. He loved them. And he thought they loved him too.

He shook his head. No, he didn't want to think of that. He realized that he was pulling into the parking lot of the hotel. He looked into the hotel room window. It was dark and none of their cars were there except Charlie's. He drove in and parked. He reached into his car compartment and put on his black leather gloves. He got out and reached into his left pants pocket. He pulled out a lock pick and bobby pin. He went up to the door, looking around to make sure no one was watching. Before kneeling down and fiddling with the lock on the door. He heard the click and he opened it slowly. He listen for breathing. He heard none and turned on the light. He had been correct, the room was empty. He let out a sigh of relief.

He immediately saw Charlie's suitcase at the end of her bed. He grabbed it and set it on the bed. He unzipped the suitcase and looked at its contents. Two pairs of clothes, underwear, a bra, socks. There were things missing. He realized they were probably in the bathroom. He went over to the bathroom and turned on the light. He was right. There was deodorant there, combs, and probably shampoo in the shower.

He remembered that Charlie shared this room with Jessica, so he had to be careful of what he grabbed. He smelled both things of deodorant and recognized one to be Charlie's that he had smelled earlier. He looked at the hair on the combs, he recognized Charlie's lighter brown from Jessica's darker, he grabbed it. He pulled back the shower curtain. He saw two pairs of shampoo and conditioner, like the deodorant, he was able to tell which ones by the smell. He grabbed them. His arms were full. But he grabbed a single dry hotel towel for her just in case. He turned off the bathroom light and went back into the bed room. He put everything in Charlie's suitcase, zipping it up and grabbing the handle, wheeling it out of the room. He turned off the light and shut the door, checking to see if anyone was looking. He wheeled the suitcase out to the car and put it in the back. He got into the driver's seat, and once again had to warm up the car. He sat there, watching his own breath puff out in front of him.

He decided to think about Charlie again. He noticed how bored she often looked, how tired she looked. Though, when she was with her friends, she was bound to crack a smile every now and then. He remembered when she finally smiled, back in Freddy's. He immediately loved it. He remembered the same smile on the little girl she once was. A little toddler, who was mostly silent. Checking and looking at every nook and cranny there was to that diner. He often found himself watching her, he always found joy whenever she picked something up and brought to him. He always would smile and thank her, before placing it on the table next to him. He also remembered her twin brother Sammy. They looked almost identical. Except they wore differentiating clothes, and Charlie's bright blonde hair was put up into a little pigtail.

Christ, how could he forget Sammy. Sammy's screams and flailing little body was still burnt to the back of his mind. Upon realizing what he had done, he was horrified. After all, he was the first one he ever... It would be best not to think about that right now. In a way, Dave was kind of glad he chose Sammy that day. Otherwise, he wouldn't be with Charlie right now. He wouldn't get to experience someone who was so much like them again. Who knows how Sammy would've turned out if things had gone differently. He simply couldn't imagine Sammy as an adult. Would he be like Charlie? His gut feeling was telling him no. Sammy's underdeveloped personality, his high pitched voice, his soft looks. It was all such a far away memory of what he was like. But all of that would've changed. Just like it did with Charlie, but there are still moments where he can see her younger self in what she is now.

Dave was already driving at this point, down the dark road in the cold midnight. Only his headlights could guide his way. He scratched his stubble, blinking his tired eyes. His eyes, were yearning for sleep, yearning to be back at the apartment to rest. But, he tried his hardest to stay awake and focus on the road.

When he thought about it, he still couldn't believe just how much time had past since then, how much has changed. Things wouldn't have been so different, so broken, and so painful if they had just given him what he wanted. He had felt betrayed by them. By the two people he loved. After all, Henry said that he made the Spring Bonnie suit, especially for him. He put his time, work, and effort into that creation. How could he do that, then push him away. He remembered how much he loved the suit the first time seeing it. And how Henry helped him put it on the first couple of times, when…

"You got it William?" Henry asked. Looking at him shift in the suit. "Yeah Henry, don't worry. We've done this quite a few times now," he responded looking at Henry through the animatronic head. "You can never be too sure," Henry said. "You know that these things can malfunction easily." "Don't worry I got it," he replied almost annoyed. Then, there was loud snap. There was split second of silence between the men. Before, there was more snapping sounds. The animatronic was moving back into place. He felt wires and beams begin to pierce him. He started screaming in pain and fell back. "WILLIAM!" Henry shouted. He jumped down reaching out to help, but immediately drew his hands back, not wanting to injure himself. William felt everything collapsing in, crushing him. He was spazzing out on the ground. He tried to shout for Henry but couldn't. All he could do is gurgle on his own blood as the parts pierced his torso. He suddenly felt metal beams shoot through his head. His eyes were on Henry's terrified face, in his last living moments. Then, William saw nothing but darkness. He called out for anyone, but there was no reply. He suddenly saw a flash. In front of him were two things written out. RESET or MOVE ON He stared at them both. Reset or Move on? What did this mean? Everything felt dreamlike, but at the same time, even more real than reality itself. Was he... dead? No! He felt his stomach drop, realizing just what was happening. His calm and confused manner turned into one that was of fear and denial. But the options in front of him only shinned brighter. Moving on, it most likely meant that he was going to be judged by God. It means he'll never have a second chance, he'll never live a full life. It meant accepting death. But he immediately realized. Reset, was his second chance. His second chance to do things over again, make things right, fix things. To be with them again. He reached and touched reset. A bright light bore from it and he tightly shut his eyes, trying to avoid being blinded. Then the light beyond his eyelids was gone. He opened them, and he was back at the diner again. Sitting at one of the tables. He looked around frantically, checking to see if it was actually the diner. Nothing was different. He then patted his stomach up to his face, feeling himself. He really was alive. He laughed happily, feeling so relieved that he was, before he looked up at the clock on the wall, it was 9:00 in the morning. It was just a few hours before he tried on the suit. He still had time. He needed to do something. He needed to try and fix it. He might not get a second chance if he doesn't. He got up and went all the way to the Parts and Services room, he turned on the light, and looked around before he saw it. The Spring Bonnie suit, leaned up against the wall. He reached into the cardboard box next to it and pulled out a crank. Just like Henry showed him, he cranked the animatronic, compressing it into suit mode. He examined the suit with his flashlight, looking into all of it's openings, before finally looking into the neck. One of the springlocks inside of it was shaking, like it was going to snap shut in any second. How could fix this? He thought about it for a second, before noticing that the spring locks were all bolted into the suit with screws. He knew immediately what to do. He reached over, digging around in the box, before taking out a small wrench. William carefully reached into the suit, he couldn't touch any of the other springlocks, otherwise the suit might collapse. He managed to screw the loose springlock in tighter. To his relief, it stopped shaking. He sighed and smiled, at least that was out of the way. He cranked Spring Bonnie back to animatronic mode. He tossed both tools back into the box, and walked back into the dining area to wait. Later, Henry brought him backstage to put on the suit once more, William was sure that there would be no malfunctions this time. But there was. He heard a noise, different than last time. But he knew it still wasn't good. He expected the endoskeleton to crush him once more. He froze up and waited. He felt wires and beams painfully cut him all over his body. However, it stopped there, nothing else came. The animatronic didn't decompress. Henry quickly got him out of the suit and asked if he was alright. William blinked before responding with a dazed "yes". Henry called 911 and got an ambulance there quickly. William was rushed to the hospital. He was covered in deep cuts, but he would survive. And he did. The cuts all became scars. White symmetrical scars. In the hospital room, Henry was non-stop apologizing to William, despite how many times he told Henry that it was alright. From that day forward, William became rather curious about the animatronics, almost borderline obsessed. What did he do wrong? What still caused the suit to malfunction? He wanted to know. So, whenever Henry wasn't looking or around, he studied the animatronics, to learn how they worked. He was quite fascinated by their complexity, it made him realize just how much of a genius Henry really was. He also learned how to take them apart and put them back together. And eventually, he found a way to keep the Spring Bonnie costume from malfunctioning like that ever again.

He then remembered Charlie, the anger and boldness in her eyes, when she reached into the suit and set off the springlocks. He never would've expected it. It had been so long. He had practically forgotten the pain from the first time around. But soon, he realized it was just like he recalled. All the same things happened. This time around he was seeing Charlie back away from him, with a terrified look, just like Henry. Except he soon felt hands grab him and drag him away from the gang. The animatronics took him away, he really was going to be one of them now. But before they could grab his soul and trap him there with them. He narrowly managed to escape from the spirits of the children.

Once again, he found that he was in limbo between life and death. He was quite surprised to see that he still had the choice to go back. His mind immediately went to Charlie. She wasn't just going to have a simple happy ending like that, doing what she just did. He wasn't going to let her. The rest of the gang didn't matter to him anymore. They could run, leave Hurricane and never come back for all he cared. This was about her now. He chose reset once again. Things were going to be different this time.


	3. Searching for the thruth

The gang sat in the waiting room of the police station. They had been there for about 5 hours now.

Jessica had fallen asleep on Carlton's shoulder while he sat there reading the comics in the newspaper. Jason was leaning into Marla's embrace as they both sat there on the couch. Marla stroked her fingers through Jason's hair as he sighed. Marla was trying to comfort him, because unlike the others, he had been panicking the most. But, it was to be expected. He was still very young, still very inexperienced. Something like this put him on edge. He didn't want to sit around waiting. He wanted to find Charlie as soon as possible. Which was understandable. They all did. Especially John.

He was frustrated and on edge too. Unlike Jason, he wasn't straight up panicking, he was angry and felt that way for a reason. The others knew it. They knew that John had a crush on Charlie, even back when they were kids. But now those feelings were even stronger. John tapped his foot impatiently and sighed.

"This is ridiculous," he grumbled. Marla, Carlton, Jason, and Lamar all looked up at him. "We've been here for 3 hours, and they still can't even tell us anything!" He shouted.

"John, this is an investigation now. They probably wouldn't tell us all the nitty gritty details. Not only that, but they don't just find info within a few seconds. It takes time," Carlton said. Obviously knowing how these things work from his father.

"I could care less if they didn't tell us where the guy buys his coffee!" John retorted. "What I do want to know, is why has it been 3 hours and we still don't have any information about this guy or anything else about it!"

Jessica started waking up due to his yelling.

"If I knew I'd have to sit here for hours and do nothing but sit in awkward silence and watch a muted TV," he said pointing up to the small TV that was attached to the ceiling, which had been on the news channel for a while now.

"Then I would've gone after the guy myself. I'm sure it wouldn't have taken as long."

Carlton opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something back to him in defense, but closed it upon realizing there was nothing he could say. John was right.

"What's with all the yelling?" Jessica yawned rubbing her sleepy eyes. She leaned up from Carlton's shoulder and he took the opportunity to roll it.

"John's just complaining about the long time it's taken to hear about anything," Lamar responded. He was leaning forward in his chair, fingers intersecting. He looked much older and very serious sitting like that.

"I just think we at least deserve to hear SOMETHING at this point." John spat. Just as he did Officer Clay came in, holding some files.

"Dad?" Carlton said straightening up.

"Hey kids," he responded. Most of the gang straightened up, except for Lamar and John. They were anxious to know what info they had. "I'm truly sorry it's taken so long." Clay said apologetically. John quietly scoffed.

"It's alright, have you found out anything?" Lamar asked not moving from his position.

"Yes, we have. We looked through some files as well as the police database to try and find a match to the plate number."

"And?" Marla asked, pushing him to finish.

"We found a match to a car that fits the description you gave us." He opened the file and showed them the paper that was printed out. They all came in close to it. It had some info, a date, and two pictures. One was of the car and the other was-

"That's the man I saw!" Marla blurted out. They turned to her.

"Are you sure?" Carlton asked. "I think the silhouette of the guy we saw was much thinner."

"He might've been, but the hair is the same. It's him I swear!" She said again. They turned to each other then to Officer Clay. He looked surprised, his face then slumped, a look of sorrow was now upon his face.

"What?" Marla asked.

"I was afraid you would say that," he responded softly. He closed up the file. "If that's the case, I'll need to run back to my office and pick up a few more files. Then, I'll take you guys to my house. I would rather discuss this serious matter there."

"Are we going to be able to go back to our hotel rooms?" Jessica asked worryingly.

"I'm afraid not," he said tucking the file under his armpit. "It's too dangerous to leave you kids on your own, with that man on the loose."

"But our stuff-" She started.

"I'll send some officers to pick up your things. They'll all be brought to my house by the time evening rolls around."

"What's with sudden concern?" John asked stiffly. Obviously still irritated about the long wait time.

"If what you said is true," Clay said turning to the door. "Then there's a chance he might go after you all too."

A silence fell among the gang. Jessica held the back of her hand against her mouth. Marla drew Jason tighter and closer to her, while burying her face into the top of his head. Lamar dropped his head and stared at the floor intensely. While John furrowed his eyebrows, taking what Clay said in. And Carlton looked very concerned.

"But hey," Clay said with an obviously fake enthusiasm. A few looked at him. "Kids, it'll be like a sleepover. You'll be at our place." He said looking back at them with a painfully fake, worried smile. None of them responded. He dropped his smile, before opening the door and shutting it behind him. Leaving them all in silence.

Clay quickly walked back to his office, almost running into two people. He tossed the files on his desk, before opening one of the filing cabinets against the wall. It read, "Suspects". He looked at the name labels of each. Before immediately found the file he needed, thanks to it being in alphabetical order. It was labeled, "Afton". He pulled it out and shut the cabinet. He stared at it for a second. The file was torn slightly on the sides, as well as being a darker shade of yellow. It was showing it's age. He opened it and immediately one of the photos slipped out and drifted back and forth before hitting the ground. He reached down and picked it up. Once again, Clay found himself face to face with the man who had been behind the murders, 10 years back. William Afton.

William looked so happy. So unsuspecting. He was a robust business man. Always seemed to smile a lot. To kids, he probably looked like a younger, jolly Santa Claus. And he did seem like that to adults too. Yet behind those grey eyes, was a cold blooded serial killer. A mentally unstable man who probably took great, sadistic pleasure in killing those children. He could just imagine that face splattered in blood, still smiling. Clay shivered.

He had felt so lucky that Carlton wasn't one of them that had been there and was picked. He remembered after getting home each day during the investigation, that he wanted to crawl into his son's bed and hold him close. Never wanting to let go.

This same smiling man haunted his nightmares for such a long time. He remembered one of his most common ones.

Where he dreamt that he was in the restaurant. That there was blood on the floor of Fazbear's Pizza. Except it wasn't Michael's blood. It was Carlton's. He heard William's laugh echoing down the hall. He started running down the hall, following the blood trail, trying desperately to find his son. But... No matter how much he ran, he could never find him. He called out for him. And William's laughter only got louder and louder. Mocking Clay for his inability to save Carlton. He felt tears stream down his face. Before waking up in the middle of the night, to find he had been crying in his sleep. He hated those dreams.

Clay snapped out of his thoughts. Shaking his head before he cleared his throat. He focused once more on William's face. On second viewing, there was something that stuck out. Something, familiar. He had seen this face recently. He put the file on his desk and ran down to the "Job Profiling" room, with the photo still in hand. He dug around through the drawers of files, making a complete mess out of things. Looking and looking until. He found it! He pulled out the file and opened it. His eyes widen at the photo paper clipped to the forms.

It was him. The man in the picture looked like a disheveled mess. He looked older, he looked tired, he looked like he let himself go completely. The man was much thinner than William, Like the kids had said, he thought. But there was no doubt that it was William. He held the old picture up to the new one. The face was definitely the same. He still had those grey eyes. Except, now, they looked even more dead than before. If that was even possible.

Name: "Dave Miller"

Clay's breath hitched when he saw the job application. More specifically what it was for. He applied for security guard of the mall that surrounded the old pizzeria a few years back. Before the mall closed. His heart sank. That would've explained why he was there. And it also explained...

He closed the file and grabbed it before running back to his office. He threw the files in a stack and scooped them up into his arms. He told his team that he was leaving, and that he might not be back for a couple of days. He hurried back to the waiting room, seeing the kids through the clear glass, still sitting in there. He needed to get them home. There was much to discuss.


	4. Breakfast with Dave

It was dark and musty. The air felt heavy with dust and hot metal. She looked around but couldn't see anything, it was too dark. Looking around the area, she saw not too far from her, two bright dots, that stood out from the darkness. The silver eyes.

She gasped and stumbled back, almost tripping over her own two feet. She bumped into the side of a table, not taking her eyes of it's. She took shallow breaths and waited to see if it would move. After a few seconds, nothing had happened. She tried to calm herself and she slowly turned from it to open the door. She noticed how small she was. She was direct eye level with the doorknob. She must've been a little kid again.

Her hand fell upon the knob, before she heard the thing turn on. She jumped and clumsily opened the door, rushing to escape. She heard its foot steps and she flung herself through the door. Before falling forward and landing on her front. Her eyes closed instinctively, letting the impact shake through her chest. She snapped them opening to see shiny, black and white checkered flooring.

She looked around. This wasn't right. She got to her feet. Her height- she wasn't a kid anymore. She looked down and saw she was back in her normal clothes, she was herself again. But before she could do anything, she heard the same metal footsteps behind her. She looked back over her shoulder. It was those same silver eyes, except they belonged to a character now, Foxy. He began running after her and she darted forward, not looking back.

When she exited the halfway she entered the dining room, she quickly cut to the left and ran down the employee's only hall. All the while, she had felt like she was running in water, her legs felt heavy. It was holding her back and she wasn't moving fast enough! She heard a quick clang before she suddenly felt a familiar pain cut into her leg. He got her. She let out a yelp of pain and fell forward once again. His hook had dug deep into her leg. She cautiously looked back at him. He was laying on the ground behind her, deactivated. His eyes didn't shine anymore. She carefully reached back, in order not to move her leg in a way that it would tear more of her flesh. Painfully, she pulled out the hook. His arm laid there on the ground and she stared at his hook, it was covered in blood. Her blood.

She looked away and stumbled to get onto her feet. Her leg throbbed in pain, so she lifted it off the ground and hung it in the air behind her so she didn't have to use it. She tried balancing on her other foot and used the wall as support. She hopped awkwardly down the hall. She just needed to get to one of the offices. If there is phone in one, maybe she can call for help. She made it about halfway down the hall before she stopped. Her leg was in so much pain, she closed her eyes. But out of nowhere, she felt two big arms wrap around her. She squealed, quickly opening her eyes and looking up at the figure in front of her. It was a yellow bunny. Her blood ran cold and she started screaming for it to let her go while flailing her body. But it's grip was too tight.

"You're mine now Charlie," he said. Tears were streaming down her face. She looked up at the face through her clouded vision. She saw deep in the head, two dead grey eyes in the black sockets, and a row of widely smiling teeth within the mouth. She was sobbing so hard, that she was hiccuping. Looking and sounding like a small child.

"You're going to be part of our family," he said. She began hearing children's laughter and whispers.

"NO! Let me go!" She screamed.

"But Charlie, I already told you, you're never leaving Hurricane ever again." He replied unmoved. She looked around and saw the ghosts of the children.

"Stay with us... You're going to be one of us... Welcome to the family... There's no escape..." The children whispered.

"NOOOO!" She shrieked. There was a loud BOOM! Before she heard one last voice call out to her in the darkness.

"CHARLOTTE!" Dad...?

* * *

"Charlie? Charlie?!" Her eyes flew open, she was immediately faced with Dave. She let out a scream but he quickly covered her mouth.

"Shhh... We wouldn't want to alert the owners," he said looking up at the ceiling. She breathed heavily and looked around, taking her surroundings in, it was starting to come back to her. She was in Dave's room.

The small window near the ceiling didn't show a bright white, but rather a dull grey. She heard the sound of raindrops hitting the building and window. She also heard the rumbling of thunder outside. It was storming. She almost forgot that it was monsoon season here in the Southwest. _That loud boom I heard must've been the thunder_ , she thought. Dave removed his hands and looked at her. He looked a bit concerned.

"Christ Charlie. Are you alright? First I see you thrashing in your sleep then you began to scream bloody murder right in my face," he said. Charlie took a few breathes. Was he actually, 'concerned' for her?

"It was- it was just a nightmare," she said, calming herself.

"Well, I've heard that I have that kind of effect on people," he said grinning. Charlie dryly swallowed.

"Was I in the nightmare?" He asked, inquisitively.

"You were... a part of it," she replied shakily. His smile widen, she looked away and coughed, wanting to move on from the subject.

"What- what time is it?" She asked, looking around to see if there was a clock. Dave stretched his right arm out before looking at his watch.

"It is 11 A.M.," he said before lowering his arm. "And I bet you need to pee, huh?" Charlie thought about it. Her bladder did feel heavy. She nodded, and Dave undid her binds. Before grabbing her arm tightly to make sure she didn't try to run. Charlie slid off the bed and Dave walked her over to the bathroom. He leaned in and turned on the light.

"Take your time. I'll start making breakfast. Knock when you're done," he smiled, before shutting the door behind her. She looked around the bathroom. It was small, only a plain white sink and a toilet. Though it was relatively clean, which was a relief. She felt her hands go to the rim of her pants before she stopped. She was literally going to take her pants off in the same vicinity, as Dave. That unsettled her. This was going to be extremely awkward, she hoped he wasn't going to be a creep and try to listen. But unfortunately, she didn't really have a choice, she had to go. She sighed before pulling down her pants.

Dave reached into the cabinets. He found some pancake batter and syrup. He was worried that he didn't have enough food supplies in the apartment, to classify as a meal. I mean, he didn't really eat that much these days. He might eat one meal a day, but he never really felt that hungry. In his younger years, he ate a lot. He loved eating. And as a result he was a bit robust. However now, due to his small appetite, he was thin and saggy. But it was good to lose some of that weight though, he guessed.

He reached into the freezer and found a recent package of bacon. That was a relief. He saw some eggs and tried to think about when he bought them. Maybe at the beginning of the week? Oh well, he hoped none of the food was spoiled. The last thing he would want is Charlie to get food poisoning. He wrote a mental note to go to the store tomorrow.

He pulled out a small pan from one of the drawers and turned on the stove. He saw the blue flames heat the circular metal. He poured the pancake mix into the pan, and was about to set it on the stove before he heard a knock. He put the pan down and walked over to the bathroom door and opened it. Charlie stood there, and he took her arm. He walked her back to the bed and strapped her ankles in, but changed the placement of the wrist bonds to have her be sitting up. He knew she wouldn't be able to eat laying down.

"Now, I was just about to start cooking, so your going to have to be patient," he said. Charlie noticed how jittery he acted when doing this. It was obvious he wasn't at all comfortable with the situation. Not only that, but his behavior was like that of a child. Ready to show an adult something cool that they did. She never thought she would see a side of him like that. But now, living with him, she guessed she was going to see a lot of sides to him.

He hurried back to the stove and set the pan on the flame. It immediately began bubbling. He reached over for a spatula and waited. When the batter started to turn more into a solid from its liquid form. He scooped under and flipped it over. Letting the other side get cooked. He was going to have to multitask to do this.

He reached into one of the cabinets and pulled out a bowl. He cracked two eggs and let the clear liquid along with the yoke slide in there. Before tossing the shells in the trash and rushing back to the pancakes and flipping them once again. Charlie had been watching him do all of this. A little surprised of how skilled he seemed to be at cooking. Yet again, he did seem to be good at a lot of things.

There was another loud crash of thunder and she looked up at the window. Now being with line of vision being higher, she had a much better view of the outside. She always did like the rain. She thought it was soothing. Not only that, but she loved thunder and lightning. When she was at home with Aunt Jen, it rained a lot where they lived. She would normally curl up in bed and watch the rain outside. The strike of white lightning before the rumble of thunder. She especially loved it when the thunder crashed loud. She would always wish for it to get louder and louder. But unfortunately, it always stopped at some point. It would get quieter and quieter and then the dark clouds would clear and fluffy white clouds would move in. The rain would stopped. She would be disappointed. But she also liked the sun and thought it was pretty too. But she liked the storms a lot more.

There was a loud sizzle and pop, before Charlie turned back to Dave. He started making bacon. Man, he was really going all out huh. He wasn't kidding about feeding her. I mean, she thought he might give her a little something now and then. But, he was going through the trouble of preparing an actual meal. It seemed like he really cared, in his own weird, messed up way.

But why? She didn't do anything worthy of that. She was the one responsible for his death, and yet here he is, making her breakfast. There must've been something she didn't know about. Something that would've made him have this sudden compassion for her. That made him care. But what could it be?

Dave reached into the cabinet and pulled out a plate. He put the pancake on it along with the scrambled eggs. And walked over to fridge, he pulled out some orange juice and poured a glass. He set it back in the fridge and walked back to the bacon. He used a fork to flip it. He was just about done with breakfast. He wanted to see the look on her face when he brought it over. He wanted to watch her eat it and enjoy it. He hoped she would anyway. It was done! He turned the stove and scooped the bacon up and onto the plate. He was practically jumping with excitement. He rushed the plate and drink over to her on a bed tray. He set it onto her lap and pulled up the cushiony chair.

Charlie looked at it. It looked pretty good and she was starving. But she immediately realized, that she couldn't eat with her wrists bond.

"How am I supposed to eat this, if I can't use my hands?" she asked twisting her wrists as to further prove the point. Dave leaned forward with a fork and knife.

"I'm going to feed you," he said simply. He began cutting the pancake.

"You're kidding," Charlie said in disbelief.

"Charlie, I can't risk having you run out on me," he said.

"I don't believe this," she grumbled.

"I would drop that attitude if I were you," he stated firmly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just kind of hard not to be frustrated, when you're a 17 year-old who is being treated like a small child!" She snapped. Dave put the silverware down.

"Charlie, you don't want to make me angry." He said darkly, not looking up at her. "You are my guest. You are in my apartment. And you are to do as I say."

"And who do you think you are?! My Father!" She spat. Dave withdrew. He leaned back with a shocked look on his face.

"Yeah, do you honestly think that I'm just going to sit here, smiling and happily obey all of your commands. No! I'm never doing that, especially for the man who kidnapped and murdered my brother, killed Michael and a bunch of other kids, and has been keeping their souls trapped at that pizzeria, and even caused my own father to kill himself!"

Charlie panted from her yelling and anger. She looked at him, into his dead grey eyes. Dave took a deep breath, before pushing his chair back and standing up. He reached over the bed and undid both of the wrist restrains. He pushed the chair back against the wall and walked over to the front door.

"Just don't say I never did anything for you," he said tiredly. Then, he left. Locking the door behind him. Charlie stared at the door, taking what just happened in. She just completely lost it. All of that fear, anger, confusion, and homesickness. It all mixed into a toxic pot, creating unbridled rage. Looking back at it, she probably wouldn't have escalated it so far. But she was just so done with Dave's bullshit. She sighed leaning her head back against the wall.

Now, she definitely did something to him. And for some reason she still wasn't dead yet. She felt guilt hit her like a rock. She couldn't decide whether or not she should feel bad for yelling at him. Her mind went back and forth. Of course she shouldn't, she was justified, he's a monster. He killed and hurt so many people. But, he's still a person... Perhaps he should've just stabbed her to death with the knife. I mean he had the opportunity. But instead he walked away. Why? What was going on in his head? Why didn't he just kill her already? Death would probably be a lot better than dealing with all these headaches and emotional confusion.

She didn't feel hungry anymore.

* * *

Dave stepped outside and walked over the beautiful fountain. He took a deep breath and sat down next to it. Oh boy, here he was again. He was faced, dealing with these emotions. She wasn't wrong, in any shape or capacity. But, he wasn't wrong either. Was he? I mean, he just wanted a nice breakfast. He wanted to see her smile. Instead all he got was anger. He loathed her face, when it was twisted in such a painful way.

He was so focused on what he wanted, that he didn't think about how she felt. He's hurt her. Of course he has, he ruined her life! But it was due to the betrayal of her parents. He took Sammy because of their betrayal. He never wanted to kill him though. But he did, when Sammy cried about missing his parents. When he let his anger take over. Was he not good enough for Sammy? Was he not doing a good enough job of raising him? Looking back at it. He shouldn't have thought that. He shouldn't have killed him. Sammy was just a toddler, he didn't understand. Yet he killed him anyway. From that day forward, he always tried to control his anger the best he could. He couldn't let his emotions take control like that again.

He was so broken. He's given so much, all he wanted was their love. But they all denied him. Those kids though, they couldn't. He gave them his love, a love that they couldn't deny. He was desperate. He couldn't let them go. They were going to be a family now. He didn't need Henry or Caroline or even Sammy. He had those children, whom he got to talk to on a daily basis. He loved them. He enjoyed their company. So, he gave them love.

Then, after 10 whole years. The gang came back to Hurricane. All of them. And they entered Freddy's more than once, he couldn't just pass up that opportunity. He could give them love too. The gang could join their family. They could all be together as a family.

He caused the animatronics to start freaking out. He needed to grab one of them. Keep them there. He couldn't grab them all. But, if he grabbed one, the others will come back for them. He saw his opportunity. Carlton. He grabbed him. It was harder than grabbing a small child. But nothing he couldn't handle. He kept Carlton there with him. With THEM. Things were turning out perfectly. A cop showed up. Young, didn't look that much older then the gang. He was easily taken care of. Dave held him close. Just like he did with the others. Watching the light fade from his eyes, Dave's grin only grew. This young man can join the family too. They were all welcome. The more the merrier. Now, he'll never be alone. The others showed up. Good, things were turning out perfectly. He'll keep them all trapped here. Things didn't go as he planned. No! The children let them go. Why?! Chief Clay, Carlton's father, he broke down the barrier. He's getting them out. NO! They just can't leave. He had one last shot. Charlie. He grabbed her and held her close, knife in one hand, while the other was wrapped tightly around her neck. He tried to keep them at pizzeria with him by threatening to kill Charlie. He was so desperate and he was so caught up in the moment, that he would've actually done it. But then, she took action. Charlie triggered the springlocks. She killed him. They didn't want to be part of the family. She didn't want to be part of the family. But he wouldn't take no for answer. He didn't for those kids, he wouldn't now. He'd never take no every again. Especially since he had the ability to change things, he had another chance, he wasn't going to waste it.

Charlie, was the only one left from her family. Caroline might be out there somewhere. But it didn't matter anymore. The gang was still here. But they didn't matter anymore. This was all about her now. She wasn't going to live without him. He was going to give her his love.

And he thought, stupidly, that perhaps, if he gave her enough time, she would love him too. That possibly, if he could show that's not a complete monster, then maybe she might give him a chance. But, there was no way he could ever make up for what he's done to her. For the longest time now, he's thought about how she needed to make up for the sins of her family. But, she didn't. That was selfish of him to think. She did need to pay for her sins though. And killing him was her sin. Her punishment was spending the rest of her life with him, which was clearly something she never wanted to do.

He hoped, that he can get her to at least tolerate him. Maybe. But one thing's for certain. He couldn't just give up, not now. He won't ever get another opportunity like this. It was going to be difficult, it was going to be emotionally draining, but that's just what you've gotta do for those you love.


	5. Grab some pizza and let's talk

"Pizza's here!" Jessica shouted, turning back from the open door. Everyone was sitting at the dining room table. Styrofoam plates in front of them as well as different soda's. They all looked up. There was a moment of confusion as they expected the pizza guy to come in.

"You guys gotta help carry it in," Clay said to the gang. There a split second where they paused, before they pushed back their chairs and walked over to the door. The wooden floor creaked with each step they made, while they walked over to the door. The yellow-orange light that emitted from the chandler that hung above the table only casted enough light, to brighten it. The rest of the house, except the bright light from the kitchen, was dark.

It was late, and the sun had already went down. It was around 8 and they were all starving. Thank god Clay ordered pizza. The only thing that worried them was that now that they could eat dinner, they were going to finally discuss what was going on. They were desperate to know, but they still had apprehension.

Each one of the gang carried a box in and set it down on the table. John got pepperoni and sausage, Jessica got plain cheese, Marla just got sausage, Carlton got just pepperoni, and Lamar got Anchovies.

They set the boxes on the table and Clay walked over to the door. Reaching into his back pocket and pulling out his brown leather wallet.  
He gave the pizza man some worn green bills, before wishes the young man a good night. The man left and Clay took a moment to look into the night sky. The yellow moon hung over him, surrounded by stars. A quarter moon. Not only that, but it had a white ring around it. Clay remembered how his mother told him growing up, that if the moon had a ring around it, then it was going to rain the next day. Clay sighed, _How fitting_.

"Ewww... Anchovies!" Jessica said sticking out her tongue. Marla also found it gross, wrinkling her nose.

"Lamar that's gross!" She said, pulling a piece of the sausage pizza out from her box. Lamar gave them both "really" looks.

"I just like anchovies," he said reaching into his box and taking out a slice. He paused, then smirked before tilting his back and opening his mouth wide for all of them to see. He proceeded to take a huge bite from the pizza, and hum in approval.

"EWWWWWW!" Jessica squealed, she turned away from him, shielding the sides of her face with her hands. She started giggling. Lamar started laughing with his mouth closed. Marla puckered her lips, filling her cheeks with air before being unable to hold back laughter.

"Pfffffhtttttt!" Marla started laughing and the others started joining in. Even John had lightened up a bit at this point and chuckled. Clay smiled at the kids. It was almost like nothing changed between them. Except they were older now, and their humor was different. But still they all came together and laughed at a joke like nothing changed. That their bond seemed ever so strong. In fact, it was hard to believe how much they've grown. They're practically adults now. One more year and they're out of high school. They'll be out on there own. It's been 10 years. Man how the time flies. Now Clay felt old.

"Can we eat already?!" Jason pipped in. He was obviously very hungry and wanted some food. They looked at him, trying to calm down. Marla rubbed his hair.

"Yeah Jason. We can eat now," she said smiling. They reached into pizza boxes, grabbing the types they liked. And unsurprisingly Lamar was the only one who chose to have Anchovies. They sat down and began eating. Clay walked over to the table and sat down at his end.

He still smiled at them, before looking at the files in front of him. His smile dropped before he cleared his throat.

"You kids ready to talk about this?" He asked rolling his fingers on the files. The gang looked up, chewing their pizza. They looked at each other then back at Clay.

"We wanna know," John said, finally ready to get down to business. Clay took a deep breath before opening all of the files and turning them to face the kids. They leaned forward, looking at the documents.

"Let's start at the beginning," Clay said almost depressingly. It was like just talking about the subject made him gloomy.

"You all already know that Charlie's father, Henry. He was the owner of Freedy Fazbear's and the creator of the animatronics. Right?" He said looking up at them, without tilting his head up. They all nodded.

"Well what you probably don't know or remember, is this man." His slid the photo of William's face forward.

"This is William Afton." There a small pause. He closed his eyes and tried to keep his breath steady.

"This man was the Co-owner of the pizzeria."

"So this William Afton guy was the one that took her?" Marla said butting in.

"Yes- But let me finish first," he said slightly annoyed. It was hard enough talking about it. But interruptions were only adding stress.

"William Afton was the Co-owner, and he was Henry's close friend and business partner," Clay continued. A few of them had contemplating looks. Obviously trying to make sense of this with only that small bit of info.

"Now, both him and Henry didn't actually used to live here. They lived in a small town not to far from here, New Harmony. They both also owned a restaurant there, a diner. The both of them had special animatronic suits that could be worn. A golden bear and a golden bunny were the main two." John eyes widened. There was a memory that hit him. He remembered seeing a golden bear, on the day Michael was taken, and he even saw a man inside.

"I've seen the golden bear before," John suddenly blurt out. The other raised their heads towards him with surprised looks. Even Clay seemed slightly surprised.

"O-On the day that..." His voice withdrew a little "Michael was taken." He said in a quieter voice. There was a moment of silence among them.

"Are.. are you sure?" Jessica asked, also with a more restrained voice.

"Yes," John said gaining a bit more confidence. "I even saw human eyes inside."

"I mean at the time I didn't realize it was a man in there. I was just a kid. Bu- but I remember... Dead, grey eyes." He continued. Clay inhaled sharply. The others heard a quickly looked back at him.

"Dad are you ok?" Carlton asked. Clay held his first two fingers over his mouth while the rest were curled. He breathed loudly, before closing his eyes. He inhaled deeply before removing his hand a opened his mouth, which made a small "smack" sound.

"Did they look like his?" He finally asked. Sliding the photo closer to John. John leaned forward, looking very closely at his eyes.

"Yeah, but the thing is. They.. they looked..." He tried to find words that would describe it better. "Even more dead. If that makes any sense?" Clay removed William's "new" photo from the paper clip.

"Yeah, it makes sense," Clay responded. He held out the newer photo to John. "Were they more like this?" He asked. John looked at the new picture, it sent chills up his spine just looking at those lifeless eyes.

"Yes," he responded almost distantly. He found himself captured by those eyes. Clay noticed this and pulled the photo back and set it on top of the file, out of John's sight. John blinked before slightly shaking his head.

"Who is that man?" John asked, not realizing they were the same person. How could he, not even Clay recognized him at first.

"I'll explain in a minute," Clay said. He turned back to the rest of the gang.

"Back to the story," he said. He pulled his arms closer to his chest, but bent at the sides. While he intertwined his fingers in an almost business like fashion.

"William never seemed like the supicious type. He seemed like a normal chipper guy. But as you probably already know. Henry, was a bit distant. He was socially awkward, he always seemed to be daydreaming. He was odd, but still a rather nice guy. It was obvious why nobody would suspect a man like William."

Clay straightened up.

"But, something I'm sure Charlie didn't tell you. Is that she had a twin." There eyes widen and mouths opened. "Brother." Clay added.

"I didn't even know until the investigation those 10 years back." He added looking down before regaining eye contact.

"His name was Sammy. And Charlie even had a mother, Caroline." Their mouths were still opened.

"The reason why you never saw, met them, or even heard of them. Was because of an incident that happened back at that diner." He said, shifting his eyes to each of there faces.

"There was a Halloween party at the diner. Charlie and Sammy were left alone in a room. They were just infants. No clear grasp of the world yet. And... Someone came into the room. And took Sammy." He said almost sadly.

"There were no witnesses other than Charlie. But she couldn't say anything, only cry and babble." Clay stated. "Nobody was ever charged, but they tried to investigate as much as they could."

"However because of this, Caroline divorced Henry and left the state. She hasn't returned to Utah since." He paused, letting all the information sink into the gang.

"So, that's why you never heard of them. Charlie most likely never talked about it, because she didn't even remember."

"Was.. was Sammy ever found?" Jessica asked in a whisper. Clay shook his head side to side.

"If he was, Caroline wouldn't have left Henry," Clay said with his eyes shut. Marla instinctively pulled Jason close to her.

"But that's when William, Henry, and Charlie moved here to Hurricane. Fast forward another 5 or 6 years. You guys are all 7. And that's when the "incident" happens. And apparently John had seen the culprit." Clay said looking up at John. John opened his mouth to say he was sorry. But Clay put up his hand and closed his eyes.

"We never found the bodies. But we found their blood. That was enough for us to realize that they were probably not still alive," Clay said looking back up at them.

"At first, most people pointed their fingers at Henry. But I continued the investigation. We didn't have any significant evidence. And I just had a feeling. Deep down. That Henry didn't do it. That someone else was responsible. And, I was right," Clay said looking down at the photo of William.

"We searched William's house and found some rather, disturbing things." Clay was sweating. His mind was flashing back to the dark room. "A yellow rabbit suit, a journal of his insane writings. His writings were of his... rather creepy obsession with Henry and Caroline." Memories of the room were invading his mind. He tried to push them back.

"We could obviously see that William was the insane one. Not only that, but he was always missing during all the children's disappearances," Clay said looking at the documents of evidence.

"William was the one who took Michael and the other kids. And he was also the one who took Charlie's brother Sammy too," he stated, not wanting to looking up at them. He was pulled back into his thoughts. He was brought back to the investigation.

He remembered reading William's journal. His cursive handwriting, obviously done with a ball point pen. He could just feel his insanity leaking from the ink of each word. How he described things. How his feelings were constantly changing. From jealousy to worship. His undying passion towards the couple. He even remembered William writing about Caroline being pregnant with the twins. The words he used to describe it, made Clay's skin crawl. After finishing the journal, Clay felt he had gone on a journey through William's broken mind.

However, there was always a theme in the journal. Love. William talked so much about it. It was mentioned in practically every entry. He wrote about how he gave love to others, how he constantly wanted to be enveloped in Henry and Caroline's love. The investigators came to the conclusion that William never had that much love given to him as a child. And thus he yearns for it now. He wants others to love him, he wants others to give him love. And that need was directed towards those two due to all the time he spent with them. He apparently tried to involve himself in their love a little too much, because he said that he crossed a border. He wrote about what happened. William was breaking. His words were becoming incoherent and his handwriting was becoming sloppier. He lost stability. All due to what they said.

"William we need to talk," Henry said sitting next to his wife on their pale grey couch. They both looked rather serious. "Yes, what is it?" William replied, curious to know what this was about. "William, we both know how excited you've been about the twins coming," she said looking back at Henry then back to William, she held her hand over her chest. "Yeah," William responded happily. "Well..." Caroline started. Henry picked up the conversation. "What we're trying to say Will, is that we appreciate how much you care. But it has gone a bit overboard, it has crossed a line that represents how comfortable we are with this. And I know you don't mean to, but... you're starting to make us uncomfortable with how interested you are with the twins." There was a long silence. "We don't want to hurt you William, but we're basically asking that you pull the reins back a bit," Caroline finally said. "Yeah yeah yeah. You're right, I've gone a bit to far, I understand. I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable. I'll pull back, definitely." William got up for the seat. "William we truly are sorry," Caroline begun. "No, no it's fine. You're totally in the right, there is nothing you should feel bad about. I'll just take my leave and let you guys have some time to yourselves." William said as he got up and left the home. But things weren't ok. No, he tried to keep his cool. He tried to breath, he tried to hold it. But he couldn't. He was panicking. He wrote viciously in his journal, obvious by pressure put against the pages as well as the sloppy handwriting. He said that he felt **betrayed** , he felt abandoned. 'But it wasn't their fault, they weren't wrong. But here he was, still breaking down. He wanted to blame them. He wanted to so bad. But deep down he knew it wasn't them. It was something he did. But, he didn't want to admit it was him! It hurt so much. He didn't want to feel this way. What was causing it then. It must've been something. Was it what they said? ... I mean, he thought they loved him. All the things they've done together, All the love. And now, they were just pushing him away. They were forsaking him. Why would they do that? That must've been what was making him feel so horrible. It's what they did. Not him.'

Clay couldn't believe the amount of detail William put into his journal about this single event. The one thing that they simply asked for. That he could give them some space. That simple request, broke his fragile psyche.

And then, he didn't write for a week. But when he returned, he had done something very bad.

What the hell's wrong with me?! What have I done?! Why didn't I stop?! I knew what I was doing. But I didn't stop! What have I done?! Shit. Shit. Shit Shit! I've fucked up. I've fucked up so badly. I was just so angry. So upset. I would've never done it. I swear! I loved him. Why does it feel so bad! It hurts! I had a reason I took him. Henry and Caroline, they won't love me. But I felt so starved without it. I needed part of their love. Sammy could love me. I thought.. I thought he would love me. I was going to raise him. I was so happy. But he started crying. I tried everything, I checked his diaper, I gave him food, I gave him some juice. Nothing was working. I begged him, I asked him what was wrong? Why was he crying? Sammy looked at the front door, "Dada." It was like everything stopped. His words and what they meant sunk in. Something snapped. I felt anger rising. Was I not good enough for him? It felt like even Sammy was refusing to love me. I knew what I was doing, but I couldn't stop. My hand, it went over his little mouth. He was so small. My hand covered both his nose and mouth. His blue eyes widen and his hands went up to my wrist. I should've stopped. He started screaming but it was muffled and flailing his legs. Trying to escape my grasp. My heart was racing, it was scary. But... exciting. I didn't even realize it, but I was smiling. I felt him get weaker and weaker. Fighting to breath. His little heart was beating slower and slower. His eyes shutting. His screams quieting. The thrill of doing it, is what scared me. I liked doing it. I liked killing him. It wasn't until after it was done. After he stopped moving. Is when I was brought back to reality. It hit me, the reality of what I just did, hit me hard. I started panicking, I just killed a child, whom I was going to raise, whom I was going to love. Yet, I just ended his life. And I... enjoyed it. What the hell is wrong with me?! Things.. things keep getting worse and worse. It's my fault. But, but.. they refused to love me. They turned their backs on me! That's the only reason I took him. I loved them! And I thought they loved me too... I'm going to bury Sammy. I can't be found with the body, I just can't keep his corpse in my house. I'll write more when I get back.

Clay felt nauseated just thinking about it. He admitted to killing a toddler and he liked it.

"Dad? Dad?!" Carlton said in a loud voice, snapping Clay out of his thoughts.

"What?" Clay responded looking at them.

"You sort of just dazed off there for a good minute," Carlton replied. He looked at each of them.

"Sorry kids, I just got lost in thought," he gave a fake smile.

"But yes. That's why it worries me that he just straight up kidnapped Charlie in front of you. She's obviously very important to him. I just hope, he hasn't anything bad to her."

"So, why did he take her in broad daylight though?" Marla asked confused.

"I don't know. But I should tell you all that he goes by a different name now. 'Dave Miller'," he said sliding the new picture out to them.

"That definitely looks more like the man that we saw," Jessica said looking at the photo. "Well, his silhouette at least. This guy is definitely as thin."

"Speaking of which. Why is he so thin now?" Jessica asked looking up at Clay.

"Your guess is a good as mine. I honestly have no clue. After all, I haven't seen him in person since well, 10 years ago," Clay responded shrugging.

"Wait," Lamar started, looking up at Clay. "Why didn't you arrest this guy? I mean you said that you knew it was him."

"Well, that's the bad part about it," Clay said disappointingly. "Since there were no bodies found, he couldn't be charged. I mean we could've locked him up, but we would've been breaking our own rules. Sometimes you have to sacrifice something important to keep then inviolable trust people have in the force."

A brief silence fell upon them. Before John sharply cut into the quiet room.

"So you just let this insane man roam free, to possibly murder more people or children." He was fuming. He stood up from his chair.

"You let him roam free around this town. Without warning anyone and put more innocents in danger!"

"No. John, after the investigation he left town. That's when he changed his name and dawned his new look," Clay responded trying to justify his lack of action. "I didn't even know that Dave was William until today." There was another brief silence. Clay immediately regretted his choice of words.

"Oh, so it's perfectly fine that this information was never told to us, and it was never told to the public. And it didn't really matter until you put two and two together. Some great fucking police work!" John spat.

"John!" Jessica snapped.

"NO!" He shouted back. "Charlie was taken by this man, and we were never told about him in advance! And Clay here, hasn't even sent anyone out yet to search for her! Let me guess, you're doing that 'wait 24 hours' bullshit aren't you?! While at this point, for all we know Charlie could be brutally murdered and had her body dumped in a ditch somewhere!"

There was another brief silence. Nobody dared to say anything. Because, John was right. Controlled by his anger, but right. Charlie's safety was in danger, and Clay has been trying to avoid the obvious problem, because of his own inability to deal with the feelings and memories from the investigation. He's put her life in jeopardy. As well as the gang and dozens of others. John picked up his plate and soda and went up stairs.

"I'm going to bed," he grumbled, not looking back at any of them.

There was more silence.

"Dad, John's just upset. He didn't mean-" Clay interrupted his son.

"No, he's right. I've been putting this off and that's extremely selfish of me. Especially considering the stakes, and Charlie's current situation." Clay gathered the papers and put them back in the files, before standing up. He patted Carlton on the head, his fingers brushing against all of those soft, orange curls. He gave a soft smile.

"You kids go ahead and finish eating. I'll be in the living room, I'm going to call the station and tell them to start searching. There should be some missing posters put up for Charlie, as well as some wanted posters for William by tomorrow." Clay walked though the kitchen and into the living room.

The gang sat silently for another minute before slowly start to ease back into eating, and even some small conversations. It was a lot to take in, but the gang was starting to accept the reality of the situation. And just how serious it was, considering the fact that man was apparently a serial killer. They hoped Charlie was alive and safe.


	6. Spare time

Jessica tossed and turned in the dark, quiet bedroom. The queen bed was comfortable enough, although it was bit hot with the thick covers and the heat being on so high. But that wasn't what was keeping her up. No. It was something else.

Her stomach was churning. Her eyes were tired, but when she closed them she not doze off. What kept her up, was what was on her mind.

She imagined herself out on the road. It was dark and her headlights spot something off the side of road. She stops and tries to make out what it is, but fails to, so she puts the car in park. She then pulls a small flashlight out of her pocket. She steps out of the car and flicks it on. The single circle of light hit the dark road, exposing it to her sight.

She walked apprehensively towards the figure, afraid it might be a wild animal or something. However the closer she got, the less and less she felt it was an animal. It was to big to be a small animal like a jackrabbit or even a dog. And it didn't seem like a big animal either, it's body structure wasn't like any animal she's ever seen. She saw the colors that bounced off from barely being hit with the light, the thing was wearing a purple shirt. No... The body laid there on its back. Crimson colored fluid soaked into cloth, that also soaked into the dusty ground around it. It's medium length light brown hair fanned out across the ground. An arm, was pointed out towards her to reveal it's pale skin.

She finally mustered up the strength the shine the light directly at it. The moment that she caught complete sight of it, her heart dropped. It was Charlie... Her brown eyes were stared blankly up towards the night sky. A single streak of blood ran out from her open mouth. While down at her torso, she saw that her organs were spilled out from her torn blood soaked purple shirt. Jessica screamed.

Her eyes flew open taking a sharp breath and pulled herself out of the scenario. She shivered despite it being so hot. Her legs were wet from her own sweat. She felt like gagging. She sat up and pulled the covers off of herself. She tried to steady her breath and calm down.

She can't just think like that. No, wherever Charlie is, with William, she needed to pray that she was safe. Needed to hope for the best.

"Can't sleep huh?" Jessica whipped her head over to the second bed next to her. Marla was lying there facing her, wide awake.

"Marla?" Jessica begun.

"Me neither," Marla continued. Jessica blinked before tilting her head to the side.

"I didn't wake you did I?" Jessica asked. Marla smiled.

"No. I've been trying to fall asleep for the last couple of hours myself. But I haven't been able too," Marla replied. She pulled the covers off of herself and sat up with her legs over the side of the bed.

"You wanna go get some fresh air? It might help." Marla asked, making a nudging movement with her head. Motioning towards the door. Jessica looked towards it and then back to Marla. She smiled and nodded.

The two girls quietly opened the door and crept across the dark stained hardwood floors. The large quiet empty home almost seemed ominous. Each step they took made a quiet creak. They truly hoped they didn't wake anyone. Walking past Carlton's room, they heard someone snoring, very loudly they might add. They couldn't tell who it was, but they decided to keep going. Eventually they made it downstairs and outside onto the concrete front porch. They closed the front door behind them, and sat down on the steps. Breathing a sigh of relief that they were finally out.

They took a breath of fresh air and felt the cool night's air against their body's.

"This is much better," Marla said, pulling her thick black curly hair from over shoulders and back behind her. Letting her neck and shoulders feel it as well.

"You said it," Jessica added. If her hair wasn't at that awkward length of hanging right above her shoulders, if it was longer. She would've done the same. They looked out at the houses across the street. The small town was quiet at this time of night. Unlike what Jessica was used to. For the last 10 years, she's been living in a busy part New York, which had plenty of noise at night. The phrase, 'the city never sleeps', was true. It was never quiet there.

But, there was a time where she stayed in Illinois for an entire summer. She remembered that the house she stayed in was in a small suburb like this place, thus it was dead silent at night, except for cicadas. Their buzzing rang through the night. She only lived there for a year when she was 14. During that time, she grew accustomed to hearing them. She often heard them while roasting marshmallows with her cousins outside by the campfire. Which is probably why it struck her as so odd that it was for once in a very long time, completely silent. Not even cicadas lived out here.

She had to remind herself that she was out in the desert again. Sure there were lots of trees and grass in Hurricane. But they weren't there naturally. They were planted here over many years and were constantly taken good care of. That's how they've been able to even survive out here. While cicadas would need large groups of trees to travel across. This town and the others across the Southwest, are little isolated oasis's, in the miles of dried out dirt. It makes complete sense why they wouldn't be here.

She leaned her head back, breaking from her thoughts about state's and insects, and a question slipped from her lips.

"Do you think Charlie's ok?" She murmured. She realized that she had no prior thoughts about it. It just slipped out. Marla turned her head towards her.

"I certainly hope so," Marla responded looking back towards the house across from them. "I'm taking a guess she's been on your mind too?" Marla added.

"Yeah, I know I shouldn't, but I can't stop worrying about her," Jessica said looking down at the dark wood.

"I keep thinking about how each minute we're here, in a nice home, with air conditioning, being feed and kept safe." Jessica began, "And Charlie's out there, probably being kept in some damp basement, on a dingy stained mattress, not aloud to get up and move around because she's chained to the ground, probably barely feed, and maybe even beaten." Jessica knew there was something else she was afraid of, with someone like this Afton guy. She remembered the newer picture. He definitely seemed like a creep.

Her head ran through another dark scenario. This time she took the perspective of Charlie. Down on the mattress. She imagined William or Dave as he now goes by. Leaning down, wearing a dirty stained white undershirt, bleached ripped up jeans, messy disheveled hair. She imagine that poorly shaven face smile so widely as he undid his belt. Jessica snapped out of it. No! She didn't want to imagine that. That was one of the worst possible things that could happen. She felt so guilty thinking of that. Thinking of that happening.

"I know how you feel," Marla responded, snapping Jessica out of her trance. "I can't stop worrying about her either." Jessica looked at Marla, who was looking out into the distance. Her eyes seemed to say she was deep in thought. Just like Jessica was. I wonder if she was thinking of the same thing? Marla sucked in some air before continuing.

"But I think Charlie would want us to be optimistic. Not to worry so much," Marla continued. She looked back to Jessica and she nodded. They both jumped at the sound of the door opening and creaking steps. They looked back at the door and saw John close the door behind him.

"John?" Jessica asked, relieved. She was worried that it might've been Clay.

"Hey," he replied quietly, before went over and sat with them.

"We didn't wake you, did we?" Marla asked.

"No," he replied. "I was still awake when you two went down stairs."

"Oh," Jessica replied. "Can't sleep?"

"Nope. No matter how hard I try," he said exhaustedly. "Probably because Carlton snores louder than my dad." He said and they started snickering.

"It wasn't just me though, Lamar was really trying to sleep too. You should've seen him grumbling with the pillow over his head," He smirked. They all giggled.

"But yeah, I don't think many of us are sleeping that well tonight. Especially with the ridiculous situation we're in," John craning his neck back and closing his eyes. "I mean, who would've thought that when we would come back to Hurricane, all this shit would go down. Out of nowhere, that creep just straight up grabs Charlie right in front of us and actually managed to get away it. We just wanted to enjoy some nostalgia and coming to our friends memorial. But then the guy who killed those kids... Who killed Michael... He comes back to just ruin our week and fuck with us," John said tiredly.

He didn't seem to be angry. Perhaps he had worn himself out today. After all it, all of this had been pretty exhausting. John definitely seemed to be just accepting it at this point and just seemed tired. There was a long silence among them. Before Jessica decided to speak.

"John?" She said quietly.

"Yeah," he responded.

"I'm sorry," she said sadly. He turned his head to her with a confused look.

"Why are you sorry?" He asked.

"I know how much Charlie means to you, and I realize that's why you were so upset. I'm sorry that I and the rest of us kept dismissing your feelings. We acted as if we didn't care that you were upset, that we didn't want to let you be angry. But, we do care about what happened. And we were all upset, I just feel like we didn't express it the same way. So, I want to apologize for us, seeming rather apathetic." Jessica felt she dropped a weight off her chest. She was glad she finally got the opportunity to say it.

There was a pause.

"Eh-... Thank you, Jessica," John replied. He had started off, as to protest. To probably say how he was wrong, but quickly struck it down. He realized she wasn't going to take no for an answer. The three of them sat in silence, not looking at each other. A gust of wind blew against them, whistling in their ears. Jessica shivered and looked up into the night sky. The bright yellow of moon was starting to be blocked out by grey clouds. The whole sky seemed to be covered with them.

The three of them suddenly heard a rumble far away. They jolted in surprise. Marla and John were now also looking up. There was a flash of lightning in the distance.

"Looks like it's starting to storm," Marla said. Jessica and John nodded.

"I think we better get back inside, unless we wanna get wet," he said standing up. The girls followed and the three of them walked back in through the door while John was the last one to go through. He had his hand on the doorknob and stood in the doorway, looking back the rumbling skies.

"Please be safe Charlie," he whispered before shutting the door behind him.

* * *

Dave felt so unbalanced and whoozy. He leaned forward over the bar table and had the left side of his face tucked into the crook of his elbow. His right arm was stretched out, holding the empty shot glass.

Admittedly he drank a little more then he should've, more than he originally planned to. Dealing with other people anymore was so exhausting. It was stressful, and messed him up. Due to the argument him and Charlie had early that day. Dave went out to get a few drinks, and now was probably very drunk.

A concept that would've shaken him years ago. He remembered back when he was little, he grew up knowing what alcohol did to people if they drank to much of it. Men would beat their wives and kids. Teenagers and young adults would get into car accidents. People could even die just from drinking way too much of it.

In his younger adult years he steered clear of alcohol entirely. Whenever somebody offered him some, he would deny it. He never wanted to end up like those other people. And he especially never wanted to become an alcoholic. The idea of drinking to numb the swarming emotions of dealing with another person seemed like the kind of person he never would want to be.

But yet, here he was now. Oh how the times have changed. It seemed like changing his name really did mean something. After all, he had almost changed completely. He was practically a different person. He was shadow, a shell of his former self. He looked completely different, he acted completely different, and yet, it was still him. He was still the same person. Just with the wears and tears of time.

He was petty, dull, desperate, clingy, lonely, broken, and probably a few other deprecating words. And to believe this all happened because of his need for love. Because nobody loved him. He always searched for it. But no one was willing to give it. He wanted to spend time with people, grow close to them, hold them near and dear to his heart. And somehow, he ended up doing such... distasteful things. It got to the point of desperation, that he forced love onto innocent children, whom he forced to be his family. To be with him forever, never able to leave him, never able to deny it. They were all he had left in this cold empty world.

But now, he had something new and fresh. Charlie. Little Charlie. He thought about all the memories of her back then from being a baby, up until now. She was very different now too. But, unlike him, she was supposed to be. She wasn't a little kid anymore, she was a grown up. Yet he can't give her the freedom to be one... Of course he couldn't. She would leave him, she abandon him just like the others did. He couldn't take that anymore. He couldn't take no for an answer.

Yet, he felt awful knowing that she felt hopeless, that she felt sad. He wanted her to be happy. He imagined her out in a field full of tall tan grass, she was in a short white dress, decorated in flowers. Skipping and dancing and laughing. The bright yellow sun shining into his eyes while her form is cast into shadow. Yet her smile shined brightly. He smiled. That would be so heavenly. And, that felt like something he would've imagined Caroline doing. She always seemed to be wearing beautiful dresses and was always so care free. Charlie looked so much like her...

Dave knew with the situation now, that type of goal, the idea of him and Charlie living happily together, is unreachable. But at least he could dream about it, right? He could still feel that bliss. At the very least, he wanted her to tolerate him. But maybe, with enough time, he could make smile, he could make her laugh. But that, was very far away. But, he wasn't too worried, he still had a good 20 years to spend with her. Until he starts getting too old and starts getting closer and closer to dying, from natural causes this time, and not death by mechanical suit.

He groaned and the bartender walked over.

"You done drinking yourself to death buddy?" The bartender asked wiping a glass with a white cloth. Dave groaned again rolling his face flat onto the table and sat up. He blinked his drowsy eyes.

"Yeah," he said, reaching back into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He laid out a 5 for the man.

"Here's a tip for having to deal with me," Dave grumbled. The bartender took it.

"Thank you," the man hesitantly replied before walking away. He swerved around on the seat and sorely slid off of it. His hips ached, and his back was killing. Oh god! Why was he so old?!

He slid his wallet into his back pocket and began trying to make his way to the door. His vision was blurry, and was constantly warping. He was having a hard time keeping balance.

"fuck..." He whispered. He opened the door and stumbled out to his car. He shakily pulled out his keys and opened the driver side door. He sat down and started questioning if he really should be driving. But he didn't care. He just wanted to get home and sleep.

He started the car and drove down the road. He was giving his all to try and drive properly. This was going to be a rough drive.

Dave pulled up to the apartment complex and parked. He took a few deep breaths before he turned the engine off. He unbuckled his seat belt and stumbled out of the car. Not even bothering to lock it behind him.

He stumbled into the building which was dark. Perhaps the outside lights were constantly lit at one point years ago, but now, they could afford keeping the lights on through the night. It didn't really matter to him, besides, he knew the way to his room by heart and he tried to quickly make his way back to his room. His loud shuffles and footsteps echoed throughout the building as he was finally downstairs into his hallway. He let out a belch as he unlocked and opened his door. He walked in, pulling out his keys and wallet and set them down on the counter. So close...

He closed the door and stared at the chair next to the bed. He can't sleep on that. It was giving him enough back pain as it is, he wouldn't be able to sleep there tonight. He had to sleep in the bed. It looked so comfy... She looked so comfy.

But, she, herself looked so uncomfortable, her bonds didn't let her move her body. She couldn't change positions and get comfortable. God, that must be aggravating. And if he was going to sleep in the bed, he'd need some more room. He decided to undo her bonds.

He blindly reached for them in the dark and sloppily undid them. Charlie almost instinctively turned onto her left side, perfectly leaving enough room for him. She hummed happily, her body was probably so relieved. He kicked off his old brown beaten up shoes and crawled onto the bed. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

His face pressed into her hair and he savored the smell. Strawberries. Though, it was only faint. After all it had been 2 days since her last shower. He should probably let her bathe tomorrow.

He quickly lost consciousness, being so warm and finally having a mattress to sleep on. I should just do this from now on... he thought before dosing off to sleep.


	7. Trail of breadcrumbs & morning hangover

Ring! Ring!

Clay grumbled before turning over in bed. While he did, he heard his wife moan. He reached over onto his nightstand and eventually found the phone. He pulled it off the receiver and heard the cords one by one knock against it as he pulled over his left ear. God, it was the middle of the night. Who was it?!

"Hello?" He grumbled.

"Chief Clay?"

"Yes."

"Chief we found something."

"What?"

"Sir, we went to each of their hotel rooms and-"

"It's about damn time. I wanted their stuff over here around 5."

"Sorry sir, things came up. But we went to the room that belonged to uh... Jessica and Charlie. And we found something."

"Well spit it out!"

"The door was unlocked when we got there." There was pause. Clay's eyes widen and he felt his heart drop.

"What did you find?"

"Sir, all of Charlie's belongs were taken. We're currently trying to find any fingerprints, but it seems the culprit used gloves sir."

Clay sat up in bed. William! That damn bastard, he took all her stuff. Probably for Charlie wherever he was keeping. But wait, if he did, then that means, Charlie's still alive! He wouldn't have taken her stuff for no reason. Relief washed over him.

"Sir?" Oh, he almost forgot.

"Listen, I want you try and find anything you can. Debris, hair, cotton, footprints. Anything, that might lead us closer to catching him. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Keep me posted, I've decided I'm gonna come in tomorrow."

"Will do sir."

Clay hung up the phone, before he laid back in bed and blinked. It took a few seconds before an air of happiness rose up in him. There might actually be a chance to catch that son of a bitch. He can finally put an end to Afton's crimes. Clay will make sure he never hurts another soul again. No matter how long it takes. He looked over to his wife. Betty was turned away from him on her side. Her long blonde thick hair, tangled and messy. Her hair's thickness, is certainly where their son got it from. He smiled, before he reached over and set his alarm. He proceeded to wrap his arms around his spouse. She let out a light moan of happiness. Looks he gonna have to leave the kids on their own for a bit. He hoped they wouldn't try to go after William themselves.

6 a.m. had rolled around Clay was already up, dressed, and ready to go. There was one last thing he needed to do before he left. He walked up to his son's door and could hear his loud snoring from outside his room. Clay smiled. That was his boy alright. He opened the door and quietly walked over to the bed. John and Lamar slept on the floor in sleeping bags. He made sure not accidently kick them. He finally approached his son and leaned over him. He focused on his son's face. He saw the freckles across his nose and looked at the top of his head at his messy orange curls. He smiled again. Before trying to wake him up.

"Carlton," he whispered. "Carlton." He poked his cheek. It wasn't working, he needs to say something that's familiar to him.

"My little Curly Carly," he muttered with smile, barely keeping back giggles. He hasn't called him that in years. His son's eyes open a bit.

"Dad..." Carlton whispered in a small voice.

"Carlton, listen. I've changed my plans. I'm going into work today, ok." Carlton was fighting his sleep.

"Ok..." He responded.

"Now Carlton, I don't want you or any of the others to try to get into any trouble. Don't you guys go after William ok?" He muttered sternly.

"Ok dad..."

"Good. I love you son." Clay leaned down and kissed his son's forehead. "Be good." Carlton had already dosed back asleep. He stifled a laugh and lightly messed with his curls. He leaned back up and left the room. Ready to go on the hunt.

Charlie began regaining consciousness. She almost didn't want to wake up, she was so tired, and she felt so warm, so comfortable. She felt herself laying on her side and- Wait, that wasn't right! She shouldn't be able to turn over in her binds. She realized her wrists didn't feel strangled or pulled by anything. Her wrists weren't bond?! Her eyes flipped wide open, she found herself faced with the wall. She really was on her side. Realization hit her hard, her wrists weren't bond to sides of the bed. A spark of happiness flared up inside her. She moved, only to realize that something was pressed against her back. Her heart sank. She felt a weight over her torso. She looked down, and saw that there was an arm draped over her hip. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was Dave. He was snuggled up to her. It felt, so... wrong and gross to even use the word 'snuggled'. When it came to Dave, those innocent words were turned into something unsettling.

Why was he, 'snuggling' with her in bed? Her throat tightened as her mind immediately went to the worse possibility. No! She thought. That was last thing she would ever want to imagine. She let out a deep breath. Maybe, she could use this opportunity to run. Maybe, he was a heavy sleeper, and if she was careful enough she could slip away without him waking up. Maybe.

Should she risk it? Her mind sat on this for what felt like a minute straight. Finally, she decided it was now or never. She moved her right hand down and lightly wrapped her fingers around his wrist, before lifting it up. She got it up pretty far before the arm immediately pulled down pressing against her stomach tightly. She let out a squeak as his other arm slipped under her and coiled up around her chest. Dave released what sounded like a groggy predatorial groan. Before swinging Charlie on top of him and sitting up.

"Trying to get away already," he said disoriented. He lightly smacked his lips and moaned, obviously still waking up. She didn't dare answer him. Her heart was pounding and she felt her blood rushing. What was he going to do? After a couple seconds, the hand around her gut moved up to his face and wiped his eyes before his sniffed loudly.

"Ahhh," he sighed. His arm wrapped around her again. And he looked over to the digital clock on the table.

"11:30 already," he said in disbelief. "Well then again, I was up pretty late last night." He let out another groan. "And of course, I'm getting hit with hangover, and a splitting headache…" He grumbled. Hangover? Had he been drunk? She thought.

She suddenly felt him press his face against the back of her head, burying himself deep into her hair. Before heavily breathing it in. She wanted to feel grossed out, but something told her that this wasn't the weirdest thing he was going to do to her while she was stuck with him. He pulled back and let out all the air.

"Morning, Charlie," he said and putting on a smile. "You're going to make a run for it, huh?" She didn't answer. He stifled a laugh.

"Well, it's not going to work," he said straightening up his posture. "It doesn't matter if I'm awake or asleep, you're not going to escape."

"And even on the off chance that you do. You won't get far before I catch you," he said pressing his face against her head again.

"I'm never letting you go Charlie," he murmured, inching towards her ear. "You're stuck here with me, forever." He whispered into her ear, causing her to shiver and clench her eyes shut. She could just feel him smile. He laughed softly.

"After all, you thought you could just kill me and that'd be the end of it, right?" he said hugging her tighter and closer to him.

"You thought, that I would just cease to exist after you and your friends ran off. You brought justice and you left. Never to speak to each other again. To leave Hurricane and move on with your lives."

"It was not going to end like that," he said. "Not when I have the ability to change things." He rubbed his face up on the side of her head. She seethed, at the feeling of whiskers and oily skin, rubbing through her hair. Charlie could tell that he was being rather passive aggressive, not only that, but he was no longer respecting her personal space. He wasn't happy and gleeful like the innocent child from yesterday. He was somber and vindictive. The same way he was back at the restaurant. Only showing gleefulness when he was in costume. She was right, he still was just as insane and unpredictable.

If he was having a hangover that obviously meant he had been drinking last night. That's right, she remembered him saying he was going out for a drink. But obviously, he had a little too much. Did alcohol cause this change? Most likely. He looked like the type of guy who would smoke, drink, and possibly do drugs. But he hadn't been doing any of the while she's been here. And he had been joyful. She did this to him. She hurt him, and he got drunk because of it. But if he drunk last night, that means it's still in his system. Trying to work its way through. Which would explain his more aggressive behavior and speech. The headache too was probably contributing to it. It was all causing him to be more grouchy. To say things he wouldn't have before. He broke through her thoughts.

"You know Charlie, I could've just killed you," he said. "I could've stuck in a suit just like Carlton. I could've let you feel the same pain I did." "Letting all those metal parts, puncture your body. Tearing open your flesh and muscles. Not stopping, not holding anything back, while it pushes through your ribs, into your torso and punctures all of your organs. You'd be screaming in agony, feeling it tear you apart. You'll want it to stop but it won't. You're vocal cords will be severed, so you can't scream. You'll want to but you can't. No way to call out for help to anyone. You'll just writhe there in indescribable pain as you choke on your own blood."

Charlie's stomach was tightened up like a knot, to the point where she felt like she was going to vomit. Her neck was also tightened constricting her air flow, the blood was draining from her face, and sweat was beading off of her. Her eyes were wide open now, staring down at her legs. Which were in-between his. All she could think about is watching that same horror in front of her.

She remembered reaching into the neck of the suit and setting off the spring locks. In her mind, it was to finally put an end to a horrible man, no, a psychopathic monster. All the lives he took. Sammy, Michael, those kids, and hell even her own father, though indirectly. Not only that but all the people it affected. The families, the friends, the bystanders. He hurt so many people. And he took it a step further, when she learned that he was keeping his victims souls trapped there in the pizzeria, to eternally suffer. Never letting them move on.

In her mind she was putting an end to all of that. But the scene that had played out before her still greatly disturbed her. Watching him scream and fall backwards. Him, lying on the floor as the snapping sounds of the springlocks and tearing flesh overlapped each other. His body in the suit was spazzing out, while blood spurted out from the openings. Soaking the matted fur with it. His screams cut off abruptly and was replaced by gurgling. She saw his intestines slip out from under the torso of the suit. She remembered it all. Still clear as day. She remembered how her eyes were wide then too. She quickly back away from him, but couldn't take her eyes off of it. It was a horrifying scene.

Charlie clenched her eyes shut remembering it. She felt tears begin to rise up, she was being overwhelmed with all these memories.

"You're remembering what you did huh?" he said more as a statement than a question. "Good, I want you to remember what you did for the rest of your life." He spat. She flinched as his arm around her gut moved as his hand reached up and stroked her face. She thought he was going to hit her or something.

"Though, that kind of punishment, it would be too easy for you, too quick." He said. Her eyes widen, as tears began threatening to run down her face. What did he mean too easy?! She thought in disbelief.

"No, I don't think death is not a suitable punishment for you. Especially with all the emotional trauma you already have," he said "Death isn't enough. Death is a passing blank to you. In your mind, there is nothing to live for other than your friends and maybe Jen, your Aunt. (The way he said her name made it sound like he brought up a sore spot in his memories). Dying might be painful, but it's not suitable. Instead, living the rest of your life with me, the man who essentially ruined your life, seems good enough. But it makes it a lot better with what you mean to me." She couldn't hold them back anymore, the tears were quickly streaming down her face. They landed on his fingers as he stroked her. He pulled away and looked.

"Are you.. crying?" he asked. There was a brief silence. His sensibility was trying to set in and he drew back. But before he could try to control himself, the alcohol kicked it out. He would've normally found it awful. He never wanted to see her cry, he wanted her to be happy. So he could be happy. So they could happy together. But now, in his drunken delusions, he found it oddly… amusing. He blinked, some old memories slightly peaked above the surface and Dave tried to recall what they were. He sort of remembered but it was hard to recall. Memories of Henry's mournfulness, that he had seemed to have forgotten.

"Oh Charlie..." He said, sounding sad, before doing a complete 180. "I thought you would've lasted longer than that. Always acting so tough and stoic. Well, I will say this. You're more tough and stoic than he was." She knew who he was referring to. It felt like he was mocking her father's weakness, in the dark times that Dave had brought upon him.

To caught up in thought, Charlie was unaware of what Dave was doing. He had licked the tears off of his fingers, before he turned her head to look at him. He grinned and leaned forward. She closed her eyes instinctively as he started licking long strokes from her chin up to her eyes. Her eyelids flinched and her eyes brows curled up at the gross feeling of his wet tongue on her face. Her lips quivered. She was so confused as to why he was do this. This wasn't the same man that had emerged from the empty shell of Dave.

"I can literally taste your sorrow," he whispered, as some kind of joke. He remembered images of Henry, in those months of lamenting. He remembered just being around him, he could practically breath in the misery that Henry reeked with. It made him he feel sick. Looking back on it, he found it rather pathetic. He focused himself on her face, twisted in a face of fear and disgust. Speaking of Henry. Charlie cracked her eyes open just enough to look at him. He was looking right at her. His expression was rather solemn, like he was in deep thought.

"You know, you have his eyes," he murmured. Her eyes widened.

"What?" she asked quietly.

"Henry, your father. You have his eyes," he replied. She let it sink in. I have his eyes? She thought.

"And you have your mother's face and nose," he continued. He lightly held her cheeks and turned her face the left then to the right.

"Even your father's eyebrows," he added. "You look so much like them." He looked deep in thought. Charlie could only guess what he was thinking. The memories that peaked above the water before, the memories of Henry in his despair, submerged itself once again. As if his mind was purposefully try to hide it. Those were memories that familiar, but so far. He knew they were memories of the time leading up to his flee. But they weren't clear enough for him to remember everything. Perhaps starting back from the beginning would help him remember what happened during those times. In fact...

"Charlie, do know what they were to me?" he asked. She looked at him confused. Carlton's father, Officer Clay had told her Dave's true identity back before the reset. After he had saved them, he talked to her in private, and told her that his real name was William Afton and Clay told her that he was her father's business partner. In fact she even remembered him. One time when she was with her father in Freddy's, holding his hand. He was talking to William, she remembered how he looked. He had a big gut, was tall, unblemished skin, and often kept a big smile on his face. He looked like a Santa Claus type of guy.

When she thought about it, it made sense. When she compared of both of their faces they definitely looked alike. But she still couldn't believe that William had let himself go so much. He lost so much weight, his arms had a few brown aging spot, his skin sagged in some areas, he looked dazed half the time, his hair was filthy and unkept, face poorly shaven, eyes had dark bags, his teeth yellowed along with one of them being chipped, and the scars on his neck and body. He definitely looked different enough to the point where you couldn't recognize him.

She knew her father and him were business partners and for some reason Dave decided to kidnap her twin brother. But, what more was there?

"N-no," she whispered. He smiled, almost genuinely. He looked less hazy, more focused and balanced. Perhaps he was finally coming to his senses.

"Well," he said. "Then I think it's time to tell you a little story about the three of us, from once upon a time."


	8. Good morning Mrs Burke

"Carlton? Yo Carlton!" Carlton's opened his eyes hazily. John and Lamar stood over him. He waited for a second before hearing light tapping. His eye looked to the window and he saw grey skies outside and rain. He blinked before closing his eyes once more. Carlton sucked the cold morning air through his nose, before turning onto his front.

"Sorry, guys.. Too early for me," Carlton mumbled, slipping back into sleep.

"Carlton, get your ass up. It's 9:30," John said, shaking his sleepy orange haired friend.

"Too early for me," Carlton replied in a whisper. John looked to Lamar, Lamar raised an eyebrow, before getting that recognizable smile. The same smile he had seen the night before, before Lamar ate his anchovie pizza. That specific smile, that told you, he was up to no good.

"It's a shame," Lamar said shrugging. "We were going to head out to try and find Charlie, but before we do, we were thinking of stopping by that diner we've been going to and eat a nice warm breakfast." Lamar was baiting Carlton. Carlton's left eye flashed open.

"Breakfast?" Now they've got him. Carlton sprung up. "Give me a few minutes." He dashed out of bed to his closet.

"Alright. But if you take too long, we'll leave without you," John said, playing along. Carlton slammed the bathroom door shut. The two guys looked to each other before snickering.

"Smart thinking Lamar," John said.

"Well, I might not remember all of what I learned in Sophomore history class. But if I can remember one thing about Carlton, is that he cannot resist food." The two of them walked out of the messy room and downstairs.

Marla, Jason, and Jessica were in the kitchen, talking and Jessica was sitting up on the counter.

"Then Diana says, 'I mean if he can't even realize that I'm a person and that I can't always be there to give him constant emotional support, at like 3 in the morning, when I'm out doing errands, or at my job. I mean, I cared about him, but he would call me practically everyday. If I was out, he'd leave dozens of messages on our answering machine. He would be whining and crying the entire time. There's only so much of that I can take, you know?' And I'm like, I think he needs some counseling or therapy."

Marla nodded, while she munched on a granola bar. Jessica's stomach grumbled loudly, and she curled her fingers on her belly.

"Ugh, where's Carlton?" She whined.

"He's coming," John replied. The two entered the kitchen to join them and wait for their hungry friend to come down.

"All we had to do was mention food and he was up," John continued. Marla snickered.

"Sounds like him," Jessica said trying to hide her smile with a scoff.

"Marla," Jessica whined. "Can you please let me have the rest of that granola bar."

"No Jessica," she replied. "I asked you if you wanted it and you said no. So I'm eating it." Jessica hopped down from the counter.

"But I wasn't hungry before, I am now. I'm starving over her Marla, can you at least spare me the other half?" Jessica begged. Marla shook her head, no. Jessica made a bunch of whining noises before shouting angrily.

"CARLTON! Get your ass down here!" Just as she did, they heard loud booming footsteps speedily coming down the stairs. Carlton who was heavily breathing and obviously not completely dressed stood before them. He was hopping on one foot, while slipping his right shoe on.

"Sorry guys, I'm ready. Let's go get some breakfast," He huffed, while trying to catch his breath.

"About time," Jessica scoffed angrily.

"You get kinda vicious when you're hungry, huh?" John asked looking over to his usually cheerful friend.

"Trust me, I have my limits," she replied bitterly.

"What's with all of the yelling?" They all jumped and froze, before looking to one another. They had thought they had been alone.

They heard the person coming down the stairs. This time, it was not thuds of Carlton's feet, but rather the hard clicks of heels.

They all turned to staircase. A middle aged woman stood before them. She was dressed in a black business suit, she had blonde hair which was tied tightly back into a bun, with the addition of hairspray. It was Carlton's mom. Her eyes traveled to each one of them, before focusing on her son.

"Carlton sweetie, do want to inform me on what is going on?" She asked sternly. Her eyelids hung lowly over her eyes, in an obvious scowl. Carlton was absolutely terrified at the sight of her.

"Did.. dad, not tell you?" He responded innocently while slightly trembling. She crossed her arms.

"No, I believe he didn't," she replied, still waiting for an answer. Carlton's eyes looked to the others for a quick second, before looking back to his mom. He cleared his throat.

"Mom, this is the gang..." Carlton said nervously. Before turning to them.

"Guys, this my mom," he continued.

"You all can call me Betty," she said.

"Betty," Carlton said, obviously not used to or comfortable saying it.

"She's a Defensive Attorney for the city of Saint George, which, isn't too far away," Carlton explained.

"Yes, and I'm meeting with a client today. Currently I'm going to be 10 minutes late, so can you hurry up and tell me what's going on?!" She said sharply.

"Mom, you remember.. The bunch of us were friends when we were kids. Until, well, 'it' happened. Then they all moved away and out of Utah," Carlton replied.

"Ahh, this is about the memorial isn't it? That's why you're all here. Yes, I remember all of you very well," she replied. Her eyes locked onto John.

"Especially you John, I remember that you convinced my son to play outside in the rain one day, and you both got completely covered in mud." John, slightly embarrassed, just shrugged while his cheeks turned red. The others giggled at his expense.

"Well, what can I say, I was a rowdy, mischievous kid," he replied in his defense. She nodded, his response was obviously not helping his case.

"You know, I had to hand wash those clothes because there was no way in hell that I was going to throw them in the wash with everything else." She looked down remembering. "I never could get out all the stains out though," she continued. They were all still giggling. She looked back up and her eyes set on Jessica.

"And you Jessica, you wrote on one of the walls outside of Freddy's in pink chalk that my son smelled like feet," she said, obviously not very impressed by idea of it. Everyone's giggles turned into laughter, except Jessica who was now the one blushing in embracement.

"It was true though," she responded in a small voice. Betty's mouth curved up into a smile and she looked at them all.

"You kids certainly have grown. I've been having a hard enough time accepting Carlton's growth, now I have to see all of you too. You're all already adults. I'm starting feel old," she joked. She finally had noticed there was a shorty among them.

"Say, who's the little one?" She asked pointing to Jason. Marla looked down to her side at the small boy next to her.

"Oh, this Jason," she said scooting him forward a little so that Betty could see him better. "He's my step brother."

"Uh, hi," Jason said giving a small wave. Betty smiled happily, and greeted him back, before he scooted back to his previous spot.

"Shy one ain't he," she said. Marla awkwardly smiled. Noticing this, Betty cleared her throat.

"So, were you kids not able to get hotel rooms?" She asked, showing concern.

"No, we had rooms," Jessica replied. There was a couple seconds of awkward silence, before she continued. "But, something really.. wild happened, so your husband wanted us to stay the night." Betty gave a look of confusion.

"And what was this, really 'wild' thing?" She asked, regaining some of her skepticism. They all looked at each other, before coming to mutual wordless agreement.

"We'll explain, but first, you might want to take a seat," Lamar said gesturing to an empty chair, while he himself sat down at the dining table.

"Just let me grab my coffee first," Betty replied, walking over the hot, steaming coffee pot. When she returned and sat down. Outside, the rain continued on and they began their tale.

They did their best to explain what had happen, starting from their first day back in Hurricane. As the story progressed, she obviously became more and more visibly worried. Her breathing even hitched, as they explain how Dave kidnapped Charlie right in front of them. How they were unable to stop him. How Clay was starting a search for their missing friend. She put her hand over her mouth taking it all in. She nodded.

"This is very concerning," she stated. She looked up at them. "Charlie was the victim of so much death and abandonment during her childhood, I had hoped that her life would turn around for her in her later years. That she'd finally be able to live a better, happier life.. But I guess when you've got loose ends like Freddy's and the murderer.. you can't always be sure that they won't come back to haunt you." She looked down at her folded hands on the table, before rising and walking to the phone on the wall.

"I'm going to reschedule the appointment and stay home today. This is very important news and I need to be here in case anything happens," she dial the numbers. "I mean, after all, you kids were all in hurry this morning, because you wanted to go out and search for her yourselves, right?" She said smiling slyly back at them. She had seen right through their plan.

They all looked at one another, surprised by the fact she easily put the pieces together. She began to talk with the client on the phone and John leaned over to Carlton.

"She knows what we were planning Carlton. What do you think she's going to do?" John whispered worryingly. Carlton looked at him, visibly sweating.

"I don't know," he replied. He turned his attention back to his mother.

"Thank you for understanding. And once again I'm so sorry Mr. Jefferson.. Alright.. ok. Have a good day," She hung up the phone. She turned back to the kids.

"Come with me," she said. She went through door that was an offshoot of the living room. They slowly rose from the dining table and gingerly followed her, they were all nervous because they didn't know what she was going to do.

They entered into the garage, it was how they expected. Cold, grey, and dark. It was especially even more cold now that is was raining outside. However, the noise gave them the impression that the rain seemed to be slowing down and softening. The walls were covered in shelves, plastic boxes, and tool boxes. She continued to walk forward, squeezing past the bumpers of their two cars. John noticed the cars were both older models. He started to wonder why they still had them. They were pretty rich after all. Maybe they had some sentimental value to them or something.

"Mrs. Burke are we in trouble?" Marla asked, finally breaking the silence. Betty looked back at her with a 'what?' face.

"Heavens no. I.. I'm not your mother," she said turning back to the plastic bins. "Besides, why would you be in trouble? None of you have done anything wrong." They all looked at each other, confused. Most adults would've lectured them and told them that's it's too dangerous. Or force them to stay put and let the 'adults' handle this. But she was treating them like they could handle this, that they were adults. That was definitely a first.

"Alright here we go," John turned his attention back to Betty and the others. She opened a light brown plastic bin. The lid was labeled in sharpie as, 'Old Police Equipment'. John raised an eyebrow. What was she planning to do? She starting digging through the different devices. They clattered loudly as she moved them. She pulled out a big black flashlight and stuck it out to them. Marla took it, and Betty pulled out another, Lamar took it. Then she pulled out two tasers and rose.

"At the station, since there isn't very many serious crimes that are committed, there aren't many serious weapons. It's mainly just nightsticks and tasers. However, Clay had snuck a few home, with him. He came and told me, that he wanted both Carlton and I to hold onto one, he even showed Carlton how it worked." She stated turning and looking to her son. The others looked to him and he just shrugged.

"It was sort of a long time ago, so I'm not sure if I completely remember how it works," he said. Betty walked over and handed it to him.

"Well, I still do. And I'm going to show each and every one of you how it works. It's very important that you do," she said holding the other up in her hand.

"Why?" Jessica asked. Betty dropped her arm in disbelief.

"Because Afton is a very dangerous man. Hes literally killed people. This isn't some thief or some thug that we're talking about, he's a serial killer. He's smart, he's manipulative, and he's not going to hold back. If he gets the chance, he will kill you. That's why you need to know how to properly defend yourselves." There was silence among them. Nobody said a word. Betty's eyes traveled across them.

"Do you all understand?" She asked. They all nodded.

"Good." She gave the other taser to Jessica and put the lid back on the box, snapping it down tightly. It seemed that the rain has ceased, probably moving down to another area in Hurricane. They all heading back into the house, excited to get out of the freezing cold. When they all were back in, Carlton was the first to speak.

"Hey, mom? Why do you think dad was so keen on making sure we knew how to use one?" He asked quietly.

"Because he loves us. We're his whole world and he'll do anything to protect us. But what triggered it, I think mainly, was his paranoia after the missing children's incident. He was perfectly fine before then. But I definitely noticed a change after it had occurred. God love him, it probably wasn't easy taking on something like that. I'm glad that he got better after a few years though. I mean, that's how the tasers ended up in that box in the first place. After he had calmed down, he simply put them in there along with other old equipment." She crossed her arms.

"Mrs. Burke?" Marla asked and Betty looked to her. "Why are you putting so much faith in us. I mean, we thought you would've just forced us to stay here for the day while the 'adults' did the searching." Betty smiled.

"Did Clay want you all to stay here?" She asked. They all tried to think of him mentioning it.

"Oh yeah," Carlton remembering. "I think he told me something like that early this morning."

"Well, I'm not him. I don't look at you and see nothing but children who need catering and stern talks. I see a group young responsible adults who know that this is dangerous but are willing to take the risk," she stated firmly. "And even if I wanted to, I couldn't force you to stay. You are adults. You don't need to be told what to do. And no matter what Clay thinks or what others think. It would be wrong of me to do so. And besides, if I tried to convince you stay here, I know that there is nothing that I can say, that would change your mind." She looked among them, her chest was puffed out slightly. She looked like she was talking to soilders rather then a group of 17 year-olds and one 11 year-old.

"You guys care about Charlie a lot. And I know that you'll stop at nothing to get her back. Also, you guys are her friends. You know her very well, so you're bound to find or learn something that Clay won't and I'm all for that." She continued. There were glances exchanged, but Marla stared on. Smiling happily at Betty's words.

"Thank you Betty," she said.

"Don't thank me just yet," Betty replied. "After all, I still haven't shown you how to use these yet. So come on."

Betty went through the kitchen, into the living room, and opened the back door.

"The rain has ceased, but it's a little wet out here, so be careful. We'll just practice on the patio."

The others followed in haste, their was new found excitement among them. Not from being in the cold again. But, the idea that they were going to be taught something new thrilled them. They were going to learn how to use their newly acquired weapons. Each and every one of them were finally going to able to do something to help their friend.

Wherever she is...

* * *

Sorry for keeping you all waiting, but I hope you enjoyed this little chapter.

Also, I drew a thing: art/I-love-you-Charlie-639564622


	9. Journals

In deciding where to look, the gang settled on going to search Charlie's old house. However they couldn't remember the location, or how to get there. After all, the only person that ever went there more than once was John. The others mainly just saw the outside of it, when their parents carpooled sometimes. The only time they all went in, was during Charlie's 5th birthday party. It was an isolated house, in the very outskirts of the town. It's obvious that the previous homeowners as well as Henry must've tried to take care of the grass as well as they could. But now thanks to time the grass was slowly dying. The house itself though was two storeys, like your average home. An expansive yard with a few scraggly trees near the house and most mainly near the back. You couldn't put a line to where the yard was front or back. The driveway was long and was nothing but pale dirt. You could see where people drove over it, that's what was considered the driveway. The house was very old, signs of decay were seen as black moss grew under openings in shutters and under the vinyl siding. The paint also was faded a chipped in some places. The wood was probably slowly rotting under it. Very slowly though. It's a dry place out here in Hurricane. And unlike other places where it might rain regularly. It hardly rained here.

Luckily for them, Betty remembered the address and explained to them how to get there. But before she let them go, she gave them the files on William/Dave that Clay left on the counter, as well as some old copies of evidence that Clay kept at home about William. She wished them luck as they left. It was decided that Jessica would drive Marla's car while John, Marla and Jason would ride in it. While Lamar would take his and Carlton would be with him.

During the ride the 4 of them agreed on reading the files out loud, in hopes that it would help them in some way. Marla was the one who volunteered to read, and John turned back to her and handed her the folder full of papers. When she started going through and reading the files written about him out loud. What Clay had said was reinforced by the legal documents claiming that Afton had indeed been the Co-owner of Freddy's. Which despite being told about it before, left an unsettling air in the car. Before, they didn't really have time to let it sink in. The fact that William was not only the murderer but he also owned the place, was actually, really terrifying. It made it feel like there was a chance that William could get away with his crimes. Being the boss, a man of authority, he could abuse his position in whatever way he liked. Threaten and manipulate employees into hiding the truth under the threat of being fired or filing a lawsuit. He could've also bribed the police. The scenarios that she thought of, were truly horrifying. But luckily, there was higher authority established outside of the restaurant that would seek justice. And William wasn't as untouchable as more richer folks. He wasn't a multimillionaire, he was a middle class working man, who just so happened to own a small business. Honestly, she was blowing things way out of proportions.

Marla sighed and stared at the papers. All the things she was told, the things that she remembered, they were all clicking together. The weight of the facts were finally piling on top of her down, weight her down like a boulder. He had been in the same building as them the whole time. Watching, conversing, planning. He selected his victims. It was never something random or planned from far away. Her mind snapped at her, _Well Duh! Of course it wasn't_! _You honestly think he would just randomly choose_?! _There had to be some planning, otherwise it could've easily fallen apart._ Then she thought back, _Well_ , _I just never really thought about it like that before_. _After all_ , _I was told to just forget about it and so I moved forward_. _I mean, since it didn't affect me nearly as much as it did Charlie, it was just easier for me to move one_. _The last time I ever really thought about it was_.. _well, when I was really little_. _And I couldn't understand it back then, at least not the way I do now._

Wanting to just get it over with, Marla read through the pile faster. Marla's heart dropped when she found a packet labeled, "Afton's journal. A light wave of nausea came over her. She stared at the front page, debating to herself whether or not she should just pretend that there was nothing else and put it away. But she decided against it. Something, anything that could help them at all was valuable. She hesitantly open it and saw the black and white copies of different pages, each of them showcasing his inability to hide his insanity. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that some of them started visibly shaking when she started reading the pages of big, curly, cursive letters. You could practically imagine his cracked psyche leaking through his pen and seeping deeply into each written word. The entry were obviously chosen for there importance. They of course happen to be the most disturbing. How he described people and events, how he justified his heinous actions. God, she wished she didn't have to actually meet the man. Marla's could hear her own heart pounding in her ears, as well as feeling her blood run cold, causing goosebumps to rise all across her arms and on the back of her neck. She shivered. Her body was reacting as if she was in real physical danger. But she wasn't. It was just a select few pages of a journal.. it was just words on paper... Yet they disturbed her greatly.

Marla rushed through the packet until it was over and then organized all of it into a neat pile. _She imagined in the back of her head, burning it_. Watching the paper cast a flame and watching it all turn to ash. So it may never be read by another. After staring at it for so long, she snapped out of it and put it back into the aging green folder and which she slid into her bag. She turned and stared out of the window, and pulled her brother close to her. He, obviously also disturbed by the contents of the folder, stared forward in silence before eventually closing his eyes. Nobody talked for the rest of the ride. After all, what was there to say?

Finally making it there Jessica pulled into the driveway, hearing the gravel skitter back and away from car's tires. John immediately recognized it, and a feeling of nostalgia ran over him. While the others simply took it in. They had never seen Charlie's old house before. But know seeing it, they tried to search for something about the home that might've affected her. They couldn't, it was just a house. Like any of theirs', a house that could be owned by anyone.

"Hasn't changed a bit," John said unbuckling himself as they parked. The rest of them unbuckled their seatbelts and exited the car.

"So this where Charlie lived?" Jason asked looking at every inch of the house.

"Yep," Jessica replied. "Looks like it's still been kept up pretty well for all of these years.

Jessica look up at the paneling. She was right, the house did look in pretty good condition.

"Why do you think Charlie's Aunt has kept it up for all these years? I mean, why not sell it. Get rid of the rest of the memories." Jessica continued.

"Well, probably because she has no place to put it. After all there's probably a lot of stuff in there and I'm sure she didn't have enough space for it all."

"She could've put it in a storage house," Marla refuted pointing a finger up.

"Eh, who knows," John replied shrugging. The second car pulled in, with Carlton and Lamar in it. Lamar opened the front door and stepped out and Carlton came out next. Carlton's eyes fixed on the house. He was taking in the view that he had never seen before. Unlike the rest of them, he hadn't made it to Charlie's birthday party. If memory serves correct, it was due to an emergency at the police force. He and his mom were taken to the station because threats were made on their lives by an unknown criminal. Luckily they discovered who made the threats. Betty had been a defense attorney for a young woman who was sexually assaulted by some man over in Saint George. When they won the case, the man's brother sent the death threats. When discovering this, he was promptly arrested.

They all could still remember Carlton's constant apologizes and also his father's to Charlie's dad. Such distant memories, it's hard to believe so much has changed. Now, Charlie, their childhood friend, was gone, taken from them. They needed to focus on her getting her back. They needed to search the house thoroughly. Like Betty said, they might find something important that can help.

"So, are we ready to start searching?" Lamar asked rubbing his hands together, getting himself pumped up. Despite being refined and quite a gentleman. He was strong and flexible. So he was definitely cut out for this.

"Ready when you are," John replied.

"Alright!" Lamar cracked his knuckles. "Let's get to it."

"Wait," Jessica said, holding up a hand. They all froze. "We don't have a key." They all looked at each other for a moment.

"Charlie must've had one, Marla said. "But, it was probably left in her car, which the police are bound to be investigating."

"Shit," John whispered.

"Well, we can't just stand here and do nothing," Carlton said. "There must be another way inside."

"I highly doubt it," Jessica stated. If there was a window or door unlocked, someone would've noticed."

"We'll break a window if we have to!" John said. "Charlie's life is in danger. I'm sure she or anyone else won't mind if we have to break something." The small outburst from John made them feel a little nervous. Would they really be willing to break & enter Charlie's old home.

"Wait, I just realized!" Jessica lightened up. She reached up into her hair and pulled out a bobby pin. "We can use one of these! Like how they do in the movies! But, I don't know how to... Does anyone here know how?"

"I do!" Jason piped in out, before immediately regretting it, he recoiled back. They all looked at him with either surprise or concern.

"You do?" Marla asked skeptically.

"Yes," He replied more quietly.

"And where exactly did you learn it?" She questioned her little brother.

"Some.. some kids at my school showed me."

"And were these kids your friends?" She asked raising a brow.

"No!" He blurted out in his defense. Like before he quickly silenced himself. Marla continued giving him a skeptical look.

"Alright," she finally said relaxing. "But after all of this is over, you're going to tell about anything else these 'kids' have taught you." Marla finally freed Jason from her gaze of suspicion, though his face was still a little red afterward.

"Ok, so it seems we have a plan." Jessica said. "Jason can pick the lock on the front door and get us in. Then we'll search the house in hopes of finding something."

"Well, let's get to it," Jessica continued.

* * *

They searched through old newspapers and magazines, they searched in cabinets and drawers, they searched behind couches and chairs, they searched everywhere but to no avail. They decided to check the bedrooms. They were much more likely to have important info. They were hesitant, after all, they were in the house that wasn't theirs. Snooping around downstairs was uncomfortable but bearable. Checking the bedrooms, it was different. Those rooms were personal spaces. While the rest of them hesitated, John was the only one seemingly not fazed by the thought of going into Charlie's room. Without pausing, he went straight in and took in the familiar nostalgia drenched room.

They all gave quick glances to one another before carefully entering it themselves. It was plain and rather empty. The wallpaper was torn and peeling, obvious affects of time. The room was also quiet dusty. The small bookcase near the nightstand with thin, hard, cover books. Those long forgotten books, were ones in which Charlie's father probably read to her at night. He'd exaggerate the words, using his body movements to help enunciate it, and then pretend to be the big bad monster and then tickle her. She'd probably laugh and giggle. Oh Charlie... It became much clearer just how much was robbed from her. The only person left in her life ended up killing himself. How heartbreaking.

Charlie's father, the grainy memory of what he looked like was hard to focus on. He had dark brown eyes much like Charlie, but the hair color was a bit different. It was hard to picture. But they do remember his hair thinning in the front. Obviously due to age. He was average height for a man and thin. They could tell though as the years went on, he gained a bit more chub around the belly. Lovehandles as some called it. He had a welcoming voice, had a lot of charisma, and overall seemed nice. But at the same time, he was withdrawn. Whenever left to his own devices, he lost that charisma. He face slumped and his voice grew lower. He always seemed to be daydreaming too. Always trying to tell people his ideas and vision. He obviously had a lot of imagination but through a lot of hard work and he let it become reality. Those animatronics were part of his vision. He was living his dream by opening that restaurant. To think all of that was taken away from him, as well as his own family. And it was all the fault of that man, William Afton. It only made them want to keep going. To keep searching for clues. A man like Afton needed to be put away for the rest of his life after what he's done.

Focusing back to the room, there was a single person bed with a light pink blanket over it, decorated in flowers. It was obvious the sun had bleached the color to be even lighter than before, thanks to the years of neglect. Next to it was a small night stand with a round ceramic lamp. The way the sun hit it had shown the dust that covered the stained wood. None of it seemed to be touched. And strangely there was what seemed to be a small train track that went around the bed. And what was even more strange, was that there was a plastic unicorn near the end closest to them. The unicorn was once painted very gently and precisely. However now the paint was wearing off and chipping. The unicorn was similar to one you'd see at a circus merry-go-round. Or even the merry-go-round at Freddy's. The one they had such found memories of. Marla and Jessica both smiled at the thought. And the others, except for Jason remembered the good times they had back then, when they were young and the world was filled with such mystery and unexplored paths. Oh, how things had changed.

During this, John stepped forward to the end of the bed. He leaned over and began to crank a small, slightly rusty wheel to activate the unicorn. The chipping, rusting unicorn began to slowly run down the track. They all watched, perplexed by the strange toy. So Charlie's father made her a toy of her own. Well, now it seemed obvious, but the idea had never crossed their minds beforehand. They never stopped to think about how her childhood must have been. I mean why would they? They were all pretty much told to just forget the past and move on. But now with all these things coming to light. Everything almost started feeling whole once more. A feeling that they haven't felt in a long time.

They observed the unicorn turning around and going back to the other end where it came from. Jason, who was getting very bored of everyone standing around and not really doing anything. Decided to slip away and check the other rooms. He quietly left the room and went across the hall to the other door that slightly hung open. He leaned into the doorway and looked around before siding past the door and entering. It seemed like an office. There was 3 or 4 big bookshelves. One bookshelf near the door, while the others were behind the big wooden desk. Over towards the other side of the room, there was a big rounded peak window. The light brightly shined in from it. Jason went over to them and closed the blinds. Still it was bright enough outside to keep the room very lit. He began look at the labels of each one. Most of them seemed boring. Stuff about anatomy and robotics. Nothing really stood out to him. He decided to check the desk. Nothing. Hmmm... He looked over at the door near the desk. He opened it and it led into a bedroom. Looked like the Master's bedroom. Maybe there was something important in there.

John picked up the light blue stuffed bunny. Theodore was his name, if John recalled correctly. It was no stranger to the affects of time, but it seemed to not have any dust on it. Strange, had it recently been touched? He looked across it's body to see if it had any rips or stains. He could find none, the doll was in pretty good shape for having to sit, unmoved for 10 years.

"Charlie took me up here to her room on occasion," he said. His eyes did not leave the doll. "She felt that her room, which was filled with all sorts of cool toys, was for her eyes only. After all, her father made the animatronics we all know of back at the Pizzeria. But these little guys. He made them specifically for her. And she felt like she was somewhat superior for having these all to herself." He laughed before looking up at her big girl closet.

"She only brought those she trusted up to her room and I respected that. Even back then, I understood how much these toys meant to her. I'd never in my right mind think to insult them or vandalize them. But that might be just because I liked her so much." He was silent for a moment. The silence was interrupted by the sound of loud footsteps coming towards them. They all turned to see Jason in the doorway, he lightly panted as he held some book in his hand.

"Jason?" Marla began but he stopped her by holding up the book to her.

"You guys might wanna see this," He said in a very serious tone. Marla glanced at the others before taking it from her younger brother.

"What is it?" She asked, looking at the cover of the book. Which was a black and white photo of mountains.

"It's a diary," He replied.

"A diary?" She spoke while opening it. She looked at the first couple of pages. Sure enough it was. The words were big, neat, and almost rounded. Very different from the journal she saw before. Afton's journal was filled with small, messy, cursive handwriting. While Afton's entries were him constantly talking about Charlie's parents or were entries of his nervous breakdowns and disturbing justifications for his actions. These entries were rather normal. Paragraphs discussing ideas for animatronics, how to build them, and giving progress updates. She also found entries about other people. About Charlie, William, and even a few about Charlie's mom. Marla realized who's journal this was.

"Guys, this is Charlie's father's journal."

"What?!" John rushed over from the bunny doll and came over to Marla.

"I have no doubt that it is," she said. "Look." She pointed to an entry. "This one talks about the animatronics." She flips through the pages. "This one talks about Charlie having a nightmare." "This one talks about Afton." "And this one.. this one talks about Charlie's mom."

"Well what does it say?" Jessica asked.

"Which one?" Marla replied.

"Any of them," Jessica said.

"Ok, I'll read the shortest one. Which happens to be." She skimmed over the pages. "Well, they are all short. Like he had nothing to write about. The only one that seemed to have any meat was one that she say had Charlie's mom's name in it. When read it, it was almost as if you could feel what he had been feeling, that you knew that he tired, alone, depressed, and couldn't sleep. It read:

 _I can't sleep. I'm tired but I can't sleep. I can work away all day. Focus all my energy on the machines, but it only tires my body. My mind cannot rest. Caroline. The love of my life. We had such a bright future. Had a nice house, had two beautiful kids, had a plan. Everything was looking up for us. Of course I never thought it was always going to be perfect, I knew there'd be friction on occasion. I knew we wouldn't always agree on everything. And I knew the kids would be a lot to deal with, especially when they'd hit puberty. But I never expected this. You've gone up to Seattle. A big city, lots of grey colors, and I hear it rains often..._ _I miss you. I called you twice today. But you didn't pick up. I called you on Monday and you didn't pick up. I called you last week and you didn't pick up. But most of all, you never call back. I've left messages, so you know it's me. Yet you still ignore me. I never wanted any of this to happen. It's felt like every since he disappeared you've blamed me. As if I was the one who whisked him away. But I'm not. We were both responsible for his disappearance. We are both his parents._ _I know you're hurting Caroline but so am I. Do you honestly think I'm not? I at least want to talk to you. I want to hear your soothing voice, even if it's over the static of the receiver. I want to hear your songs, see your paintings, watch you dance and practice ballet. I want to feel your warm hand on my mine. I want to hold you close and be able to love you again._ _All I have left is Charlotte. Our daughter. The light of my life. She keeps me going when I feel I can't. She's there in my workshop every day, always asking questions. Always wanting to know more about the world. I'm sure she'd love to talk to you. So, if you won't do it for me, at least do it for her. I'd rather she at least know her mother. If you don't want to see me, fine. I'll have Jen take her up to see you during her Summer breaks. But I can't know of what you want if you don't tell me. Write me a letter even. But at least let her know her mother loves her, even if she won't say it._

They were speechless. A man they knew so little about had just unraveled right before there eyes. His pain, his loneliness, his desire. It was.. a lot to take in. The silence amongst them felt awkward. Kind of like being yelled at by an adult and there's a good minute of silence.

"Well, that was very depressing," Carlton said breaking them away from the entry.

"Yeah, I feel like a man we knew so little about has just unraveled before our eyes," Marla said, almost distantly. Like she more talking to herself rather than the others.

"I don't wanna be here anymore," Jessica mumbled. Marla and the others glanced at her. She was shrunk back and hers arms were tightly held against her chest, as if trying to give herself a hug and a sense of comfort.

"Yeah, she's right," Lamar said, turning everyone attention to him. "This is just making me more discontent with the situation."

"To think, that Charlie and her father could've lived a normal life without this man. That none of the suffering that we went through and they went through would've happened if he just never existed." Lamar had continued. He sighed, brushing his fingers through his hair out of frustration. But unlike John, whose frustration was like a lit flame that couldn't be put out, Lamar's frustration was overshadowed and slowly being put out by his fatigue. All of this sadness was weighing down on his soul, it was too much for even him to handle. Jessica had the right idea, he really wanted to leave this place as well.

"Yeah, I think this is a good enough find to warrant leaving," Marla said looking down at the diary. She looked up at Jason. Then patted him on the head.

"Good job Jason," She said, smiling. He seemed surprised by the compliment but then blushed.

"No problem," he replied.

"Alright guys, let's get this out of here and back to Mrs. Burke. She might know where to point us next." John stated as if he was Fred from Scooby Door, directing the gang.

"Wait!" Carlton blurted out, catching them off guard. They all turned to him.

"What?" Marla replied shook, clutching the book tightly.

"Did you see the last entry?" He asked.

"No, I don't think so," she replied.

"Then lets check it. Maybe there's something important."

"Oh yeah," Jessica said. "I mean it might mention something that might shed some light on this. Maybe it mentions where Afton lives. Or where he hung out. I mean, any of them might, but it wouldn't hurt to check." Marla looked from her, back to the journal. She open it and began flipping through the pages. Eventually 3/4s into it, she found the last entry.

"Here it is," She said. "It says:"

 _I haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately and now it's obviously taking a toll on me physically. My hands won't stop shaking. I try holding things in hopes it'll stop, but it doesn't. I try to steady my breath but it's hard too. My eyes sting and my eyelids feel as if they weigh tons. I want to sleep. Sleep is really the only way to escape from my daily stress. But the time I spend awake in bed, with all the thoughts in my mind. I can't go to the store anymore without people knowing me. The grimace look on all of their faces. Mom's whisper about me to each other. While others keep their kids away from me. As if I'll just kill them right there. The thoughts I have are of what they think of me. Not to long ago they would've never recognized me. But now, with what happened. Everyone knows me, and they all hate me._ _I honestly don't know who could've done it. I can't think of a single man who would've harmed those children. Everyone seemed normal here in Hurricane. I mean, that's why I cane down here. I thought we'd be able to escape such people. But we haven't. Is it possibly its the same guy. Or is it just a coincidence. I want to believe its a coincidence. People would tell me its one. But, what if it isn't a coincidence? What if he followed us? Why though? Do I know him? Did I do something that made me hate me so much? If it was something I did, then why did he kill those innocent kids? At least before it was my son. Which makes sense if he had a vendetta. But he killed those kids instead? WHY? Was it because he wanted to tarnish my reputation? Did he want my business to fail? I just can't understand. I just can't..._

There were tear stains on the page. Marla rubbed her thumb over it. As if expecting it to still be wet, before continuing.

 _Not a day goes by, where I'm not thankful that Charlotte's ok. She had been there that day at the restaurant. The animatronics started going haywire and it was a good 10 minutes until anyone alerted me to what had happened. When I got there I managed to shut them down. None of them were chosen. Except for.. Michael. I didn't know him very well, since he seemed to be a more distant friend than the rest. But Michael had been such a sweet kid. I saw so much creativity and motivation in him. He had so much potential. He probably would've been able to do anything if he set his mind to it. God rest his soul._ _I've tried to occupy myself with inventing. But even that hasn't made me feel better. They were always malfunctioning. And they're always doing things I never expected them to do. Like they'd activate when they weren't suppose to. Some of them twitched violently and I couldn't find the reason. They should've been working perfectly fine. But they weren't. I tried making a new endoskeleton as of recently, but I don't have the same drive to do so. Thus I find it hard to concentrate. With what I've made though, I do have some hope that it'll turn into something decent. It just isn't the best at the moment. None the less, I've called William over to take a look at it. We haven't talked in a while and I think all of these events has made him less interested in hanging out. Maybe deep down he also thought I was responsible. Maybe I am._ _The coffee maker has just stopped. Now that I can have a piping hot cup of joe, maybe I can regain some stability. I'll end this here and write later. William should be here any minute now and I don't want him to see me writing in this. Hopefully things go well._

"Geez," Marla said tiredly. She scratched her head.

"What was the date?" Jessica asked.

"It's dated..." Marla began. Her eyes widen.

"John?" She asked. John looked over at her and then the page. His eyes widen too when he saw the date.

"Isn't that.. the day he died?" He asked softly. She nodded. Jessica slightly gasped and everyone else was also taken aback.

"How can I forget that day. It was last time I ever got to see Charlie until this week. It happened so abruptly too. The speakers called her up to the office. Then she told me she'd be back. And she never did come back. It wasn't until later when my mom said I'll probably never see her ever again. I wrote to her as soon as I got her new address. I had wished I was at least able to say bye before it happens. But since adults often don't take children's feelings into consideration when making decisions that affect them..." He went quiet. But was obviously distraught. Marla gently put her hand on his arm.

"John?" She asked, sounding almost like a concerned mother.

"I'm sorry, it's just that, they never asked me how I felt about anything. Ever. They never gave me fair warning, they just did it. They never comforted me about it either. They knew Michael was one of my friends. And they never once thought that maybe I was in pain over it. Then, right after, I lost Charlie too. We were separated against our will and were only allowed to communicate via letters or phone calls. I never once got to see her. That's.. that's probably why I got so angry about her being taken by that freak. First time I've seen her in forever and she's once again taken from me. It really struck a nerve y'know," he stated, pouring out all his feelings to them. Marla rubbed up and down his arm softly.

"I'm sorry that they didn't care about how you felt John. We all wished we got to say goodbye to Charlie. That was definitely something we weren't expecting. Her Aunt just swooped in and took her out of school without warning and just left the town. And then the rest of our parents took us away too. Split us up all across the different states. It was heartbreaking having to leave Hurricane. It was home to all of us. You weren't the only on affected. I remember that I was upset too for awhile." After she spoke they all went quiet. All of them thinking back to that fateful day.

"Wait, didn't that entry say that Afton visited him that day?"

* * *

Clay wiped the sweat from his brow. It wasn't that hot out but the sun beat over him viciously. Lack of vegetation really made a difference. Despite this he knew they had to keep searching. If they couldn't find him in the mall, maybe he found a way into the pizzeria. If so, they needed to check there too. He sat down in the driver's seat of the police car and held his water bottle up against his face. Even the water was starting to get hot. He sighed. He hoped he found the bastard soon. And Charlie. The poor girl, Clay couldn't imagine what William has done to her. Has he beaten her? Has he forced himself upon her? Has he already killed her?

Clay couldn't know for sure. William was so unstable, it was almost impossible to know what he wants. He hoped for the best though. He hoped Charlie was in one piece and wasn't traumatized by the actions of that maniac. He looked at his watch. It was 1:47. The kids were probably up by now, he should probably call and see if everything is alright. He reached over to the walkie-talkie and called one of his detectives.

"Kyle? Yeah it's me. Listen I'm going to find the nearest phone, I need to make a call. I'll b back as soon as I can. Alright. Thanks."

He shut the door and started the engine. He drove and drove until he came by a diner. He stopped in there and asked to use the phone. He dial up the home number and waited.

"Hello, this is the Burke household."

"Betty?! What are doing home, I thought you had to meet with a client today?"

"Clay? Well, after the kids told me what happened, I rescheduled."

"Ok, well, can you let me talk to Carlton?"

"Umm.. he's not here at the moment."

"Did the kids go out to lunch?"

"No. They went out to help search for Charlie."

"WHAT?! Betty you let them go out on their own, at the possibility of Afton slaughtering them!"

"I gave them tasers Clay! And I showed them how to use 'em. Honestly you should have more confidence in the them."

"They're just kids Betty! If they end up dying, all of their parents are going to blame me!"

"There are not going to die Clay. They out number him. They're adults and they can over power him if necessary. The fact so little faith in them is-"

Clay wasn't listening. He held his face in his hand and kept whispering 'oh my god' over and over. Finally he took a deep breath in and calmed himself.

"Betty, do you know where they are?"

"Yes, they are at Charlie's old house. I sent them there to look for clues. It was the place that was the least likely to house William."

"Alright, I'm getting my patrol and heading up there. If they come back before we get there, make them stay put. Ok? We can talk about this later."

"Ok."

Clay hung up and slid his fingers through his hair. Before running back out to the car and radioing his patrol. He ordered them all to go up to the house, giving them the address. He started the car and drove off into the distance, hoping that the gang was alright.


	10. The good ole' days

Dave closed his eyes and lifted his head, reminiscing. Good memories flooded back to him. All the good times he had with them. It had all began one day, a very long time ago. When he first met Henry. However he needed to give her a picture of his family first.

"I guess, I'll start with my parents." "You see my father, was an alcoholic."

" _That explains a lot_ ," Charlie thought to herself. She was surprised for a moment, but that being the case.. it just made perfect sense. I mean how could a guy like him not have had a messed up home life.

"He spent most of his time watching television or sleeping. He got welfare checks in the mail often since he couldn't work because he had a certain disease that made him more susceptible to breaking his bones. Or that's at least what he told me. So, he rarely left the house. He'd always guilt me for not helping him do stuff. So I was always the one who cleaned up the messes whether or not I made them, I washed the dishes which mostly came from him, I did the laundry, and I took out the trash can full of beer cans and microwavable meal boxes. You sensing a pattern here? Though I learned quickly to not deny him, he didn't hesitate to punish me. And I mean messed me up good. Like to the point where my whole body ached." "As for my mother, she left the house often. Sometimes for whole weeks. She would always come back though. And she bring lots of money home. To this day, I still don't exactly know where she got it from. She was beautiful and very sweet. I sometimes wondered why she stayed with my father. They seemed like exact opposites, I can't imagine why she'd ever marry him. But she taught me how do a lot of things on my own. How to do the dishes, how to do the laundry, how to fold laundry, how to wash towels, how to vacuum, how to mop, etc. I became like the stereotypical housewife for my father while she was gone." "She always told me she never wanted me to be like him. And that she wanted me to be something more. She wanted me be much better people than them. And in some respects I managed to achieve that. But now… Now that I think of it. I do look a lot like my father..." He went quiet for a moment before moving on. "Now onto meeting your dad. You see the first time I ever met your father was when we were kids. Probably about 10 or 11. Living up in New Harmony, it was such a small town, only about 200 people. However, when I wasn't going to school, I left the house and traveled around town to try and find friends or kids I knew from school. Of course I found that most of them tried to avoid me as much as they could. And if they didn't avoid me, they made fun of me. I was teased constantly by a group of older kids. They teased me a lot about my weight, yes even as a wee lad I was quite chubby, then out of nowhere your father came up and defended me. I barely knew him at the time. He sat in the back of one of my classes, but we had never spoken to one another. To suddenly see somebody I barely knew, for the first time ever, defend me. I couldn't believe it." "He managed to get the bullies to leave and he asked if I was alright. I thanked him and told him that nobody's ever done something like that for me before. And he smiled. That was the first time I ever saw that wonderful smile of his. His pearly whites, missing a tooth, and his wide, shining, chocolate brown eyes. I felt my heart skip a beat. He told me that I shouldn't worry about others and that he would be my friend. I thought I was going to cry. He took my hand and told me he wanted to show me all the stuff he'd been working on. I was happy to oblige." "From then on, I always hung around his house for an hour and a half each day. And three hours for the weekends. Your father had such a vivid imagination. He'd go on and on about things. And I'd listen for what felt like hours. It was almost like he sucked me into his mind. He showed me sketches he made of superheroes, villains, and robots. He even started to craft his own little machines. He always seemed very interested in robotics. Tinkering with devices and toys. He told me he wanted to make his own robots one day. And he showed me how to build my own robots. Through trial and error, I ended up making some of my own. I never made anything that I was ever proud of prior." "The years went by and we finally entered Middle School. And that's when your mother came into the picture. She had moved down to New Harmony from Salt Lake City. She was the prettiest girl we had ever seen. At the time we were both interested in her. However I never became jealous of Henry's affection towards her. In fact, if anything I encouraged it. We mainly kept our distances from her as we were afraid of making a bad impression. However we soon began chatting with her when Henry saw her drawing during a Study Hall. She was good with drawing backgrounds and good with color scheme. Two things that Henry was terrible at. They instantly began chatting it up and showed each other their art. Caroline was no longer some pretty stranger but rather a friend. She was shy and embarrassed of certain things she liked. For instances they both had an interest in Doctor Who when it started airing. She really liked 'nerdy' things too, but didn't want to admit it. They got along so well, like bread and butter. They were adorable." "And then high school came and things changed once more. Up until then, I was kind of that fat friend of the friend she was actually close too. The one she knew but really didn't go out of her way to talk with. I was hoping that would change, however, instead, her and Henry's relationship changed. When Sophomore year came, they were no longer just friends. But they decide to start dating. Which surprised me, but at the same time, it didn't.. It always seemed that they were soulmates. That was something I came to accept." "But they started behaving differently. They'd hold hands and snuggle. When they did, I'd always feel myself blush. I liked seeing them together like that. I'd often tag along when they went places, because I wanted to see them close. And I even remembered… the first time I saw them kiss. My heart skipped a beat, my face turned as red as a beet. Their love was so.. so beautiful. I.. I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to be encapsulated in it. There was just something so heavenly about it. Something I can't quite explain. But it was definitely a feeling of some form of ecstasy. I wanted to feel it more and more, and thus I overstepped boundaries. But I'm getting ahead of myself."

Charlie thought about it deeply. So basically, he enjoyed her parents' intimacy? Gee, that wasn't perverse at all. She was wondered how her parents would've been ok with him acting as a third wheel. But she knew that back then, they probably thought of him as harmless, awkward, and meaning well. So they let him do what he wanted. They had unknowingly given him hope that one day he could experience intimacy for himself. Which, to her knowledge he hadn't. But she didn't know, between now and then he could've invited a few hookers over. Ugh- the thought of Dave and sex being in her mind at the same time made her feel like she could hurl.

"Senior year came with a big change. It was when we made the plan, got the education and money, to set up the business. Basically, Henry sat the both of us down and told us about his plan. He wanted to make a restaurant where he could show off his robots to the world. Not only that, but he wanted to inspire future generations to experiment with robotics. But he knew he couldn't do it alone. So he asked for our help. Us, being the two closet people in his life. Henry would cover the robotics and other machinery, Caroline would cover the ascetical design of the building as well as the design aspects of backdrops and certain room layouts, while I was tasked with finances, legality, and business. I'd always been good with math. So it didn't come as much of a shock to me." "But in order to be brilliant enough to run a business I needed more education. College was coming up and Henry wanted to know if we were willing to commit to a dream he came up with. That even though he said he knew it seemed selfish, we were the only people he really knew who could help him. I was, of course, happy to oblige. I mean why else was there to do. I had talents yes. But no clear goal of what I wanted. But I knew one thing. I wanted to apart of their life. Caroline agreed as well and the deal was set. We set our sights forward to the dream we were all going to help him achieve. College was, for the most part, lonely. I spent all my time studying finances and business, while they worked 3 part time jobs. Trying to get as much cash as the can to buy out an old vacant diner that went out of business years ago. They were lonely years, but I kept reminding myself that it'll all be worth it in the end." "Then I graduated with my bachelors. We were ready. We managed to buy the building. Then over the coming months, we remodeled it. Lots of hard work. Lots of hours spent. Then it was done. I remember the 3 of us looking up at the building. Sweaty, covered in dirt and paint, and tired. It was finished. The passion project we each poured our hearts into had finally come to fruition. I remember Henry telling us, especially me, that he couldn't thank us enough. I told him that I was more than happy to help him reach his dreams. I hadn't seen him so happy in such a long time. He was even crying. I wanted to hug him. But Caroline did before I could. I felt it would've been awkward if I joined in too." "After that, we spent more months buying equipment and supplies. While we were getting everything in. Henry was building 2 animatronics. A bear and a bunny. Henry said due to limited technology. They couldn't move from the stand. They hand to be stuck in place. However part of Henry's dream was too be able to have them walk around and great the kids. And that was an aspect he was not too keen on giving up on. So he devised an idea. He was going to create a function that allowed them to transform into wearable suits. However, no other establishment with animatronics in it, ever managed to create such a thing. The idea on its own was definitely ahead of its time. However, this meant, there was added risk. If he were to try to execute this thing on its own, there was a very high chance of never achieving it or it being extremely dangerous to use. And obviously the latter of the 2 was the case as you already know. And after all Charlie."

He leaned in close to her ear. "You ever wonder how I got these scars?" Her eyes widen. The scars.. the scars looked like they came from a machine such as that. The symmetry of it, the way it looked perfectly mirrored on both sides. She even remembered seeing the crescent moon shapes on his neck. Even then she knew it must've been some kind of design that caused it.

"The springlocks. But, how are you not dead?" She asked shakily. "The springlocks.. they.. at least 99% of the time, kill the person inside. How did you not die?"

"Because I tampered with it prior. I knew what was going to happen. So I tried to fix the problem. However I didn't fix it completely, as you can tell. But I did survive," he replied.

"I died the first time I wore it. But then, that's when I discovered my ability to go back and fix things after I died. And just recently when I died at your hands. I once again was given an opportunity to fix what happened. But the first time I died, your father was a witness to the gruesome scene. Even the second time when I didn't actually die. I can't tell you he much he was apologizing and trying to hold back tears. He always was a sensitive man…"

"But anyway, after that incident happened and I remained in the hospital for a week. The entire time, all I could think about, was what went wrong. I was sure that I had fixed the problem, but the suit still malfunctioned. I became fixated on understanding why. Whenever your father wasn't around I examined the animatronic, took it apart then put it back together again. Learned what all the little mechanisms did. Understood how Henry built them. Then tried to see if I could build them differently. Maybe fix their flaws and make them better. I often took the Spring Bonnie suit with me on my way home and worked on it. Making the suit my own in a way. You know back in the days of diner, when I was up on stage and performed in front of kids, I got to pretend to be someone I'm not. I got to play the character of Spring Bonnie. The kids loved Spring Bonnie. They loved me. I didn't matter to them that under the suit was an overweight, tall man. They enjoyed my performance. No, they loved it. It made me so happy. I felt that, even without the affection of your parents, I was still loved by some people. That's why when I'd meet all of those kids. I didn't want them to leave every day. Some of those kids, I had really grown attached too. After your parents rejected me I..."

He cleared his throat,

"I haven't gotten to that part of the story yet. I'm trying to keep this linear but I'm having a bit of difficulty. But yes. Before the rejection. Is when I learned that Caroline was pregnant. I remember that day Henry came into work with the biggest smile on his face. He had smiled other times, but those times were different. He obviously wasn't there in reality. However this time, he was very obviously in reality. I mean how couldn't he. When he told me the big news, he was jumpy with glee. I remember feeling butterflies in my chest. She was pregnant. Something they made together with the power of their love. An embodiment of their love. It would be perfect. I couldn't get it out of my head. I kept track of the growth of Caroline's baby bump, made sure I could help at any opportunity. I admittedly became rather obsessed. But I had good intentions. Near the end of her pregnancy, they told me to back off. So I did, and it hurt. It hurt really bad. So bad that I began harming myself. During that time I spent distant from them, I felt so empty. I needed someone in my life again. Someone to love. I saw an opportunity during a Halloween party we were going to have.-"

Realization hit Charlie like a stone wall. It was true. Any doubt she had about it, was now absolved.

"So, you really did it, didn't you. You took him away from me. Just like you took those kids and Michael." She felt a rage enter her, she had only felt it once before. "You killed them all didn't you! You took them all away from me!" She pulled free from his grasp. He had a look of shock on his face. She was facing him near the end of the bed. "You selfish bastard! You ruined my life! You ruined everyones' lives! And why?! Because you were lonely!"

"I didn't mean to kill Sammy! It was an accident!"

"But the other kids weren't! You knew what you were doing. You killed them all!"

"They left everyday. Leaving me behind to lonely, sleepless nights! I never wanted them to leave! And now they can't."

"And my father, if you loved him so much why did you do that to him, you sick son a bitch! You pushed him to suicide!"

"I didn't push him to suicide! I-!" His expression changed instead of anger it was blank, he mouth hung slightly agape and he didn't speak.

"What?! You what?!" Charlie continued, she waited for a response but none came. Her breathing calmed and she studied his face, trying to figure out what he was thinking. But she couldn't. He was just staring.

"Dave?" She finally asked. His voice came out shaky and quiet. Almost as if coming to a realization.

"He didn't kill himself **...** **I killed him.** "


	11. Henry's suicide

Henry held the mug tightly while his hand shook and jittered. His chocolate brown eyes looked dead and blank. There was no light that reflected off of them anymore, it looked as though the soul behind them had died and yet the body kept living on despite that. There bags under those dead eyes, such dark and unhealthy bags that it honestly looked like he had never slept a day in his life. His hair was frizzy obviously not combed and his hair was starting become untrimmed, long, and shaggy. And near the roots you could see the stress start to get to him, the roots sprouting up were getting lighter and lighter, his hair was turning gray from the stress he dealt with on a day to day basis.

The man stood there in his plaid bathrobe, wearing a white shirt underneath it, he wore fuzzy black pants underneath, and had wore fluffy shoes to keep his feet warm and comfortable. William gave his appearance a good look, a part of his just wanted to state how terrible he looked, but he kept his mouth shut. William had been under a large amount of stress too. After all, every time an incident happened at the pizzeria, he had to deal with a whole bunch of bad press and legal trouble. It had taken quite a toll on him too, but at least he tried to be presentable.

Henry, who almost seemed to have completely forget why he called William here for, for a moment, invited him in. William put his bag down and shut the door behind him, before following Henry into the living room. There in front of him, was the said creation that Henry called him over. He couldn't believe his eyes.

"This is it?" He asked in disbelief. The robot standing in front of him was nothing but a skeleton. Barebones, lack of smaller parts, only barely hanging together by the base screwed together. He looked over to Henry who stood there, both hands clutching the mug and holding it close to his face.

"Henry this nothing but the bare minimum," he continued "You seriously called me all the way over town just to see this?"

"It's not finished yet," he said weakly.

"Obviously," William snapped back.

"But I wanted to show you the blueprints and how the base is completely different from the things we've made before." He muttered reaching over to the sketches on the table. He brought them over to William. William looked at it. It did seem like a completely new concept to him. Unlike the usual animals Henry made, it seemed to be a person.

"I see, you're crafting a human like animatronic. Are you sure you wanna go through with this? You've always had trouble making human eyes small enough to be believable?" William asked. Henry put the mug down on the coffee table.

"I'm sure, I've been sitting on this idea for a while. I've decided to start working on it," He took a sip, his hands shook all the while. He then put the cup down on the counter.

"I know you're not a huge fan of the idea and I know that it might not even be very successful. But I need this right now William, I need something that I can vent all of my emotions into. Everyone around me has either left or died, there is barely anyone else that'll listen to me. Not only that but with all those dead kids, everyone thinks I did it. They all think my mourning and loss was something I did to myself. No one believes I'm innocent and I'm just seen as a monster." Tears stung his eyes and threatened to fall and William could only stare in awe. William remembered the Henry that he talked with every day from the years prior. The Henry who put hard work and passion into everything he did. The Henry that always seemed to be smiling. That wonderful man that he fell for years ago, an inspiration, a ray of light in the darkness of William's world. Henry offered hope, he would go to the ends of the earth for him. So far, he had spent his entire life with him, for him, by him. Outside of Henry, William was nothing. Yet here he was, broken, shaking, and a shell of his former self.

He realized at this point, whenever he thought of Henry, he thought of the Henry from years ago. Not the one that stood before him now. Ever since that Henry began to crumble, William found that he had also began too. His mood became sour, spiteful, and cruel. He no longer looked at things the same as he did before. The sun didn't always shine and William had just assumed it was because of everything around him. Economy was getting rough, business continually thinned, and all the legal issues they kept dealing with weighed on him.

He had assumed it was just that, now Henry's words were starting to make him question why all of these problems even plagued them in the first place. Henry had his own problems obviously. They weren't his responsibility though, he couldn't have helped if Caroline left. Yes you could've… Of course, it was more quite and empty in the restaurant without Caroline around to lighten the mood whenever things were down. But her leaving wasn't his problem or his responsibility, she was Henry's wife, not his.

Henry's productivity started to wane, but that wasn't his fault. Yes it was… Henry was upset about losing his wife. Of course he'd feel depressed. But it was because of his lack of productivity that caused the thinning of business, not to mention the economy and worse of all the lawsuits from people whenever something went wrong. Court hearings practically drained their pockets. But those factors were what led to things getting so bad. It wasn't his fault that Henry was crumbling and hollowing into a shell. Yes it is… That Henry no longer shined like a light in his life to lift the mood, to run to him with new ideas, and making terrible jokes that William laughed at. The both of them were the victims of circumstance. They had to adapt. He obviously did more than Henry. But it made sense, William had always been more flexible. Henry had always been too passionate to give up his hopes and dreams and now he was suffering for it.

He's suffering because of you…

What?

You did this to him…

No.

You ruined him, your sunshine... because you called forth the rain and blought out his light!

Stop it!

You ruined the one good thing you had, because you were SELFISH!

"SHUT UP!" His hands clutched the sides of his head and his face was twisted in a swirl of emotions. He immediately opened his eyes to look of a shocked Henry.

"William?" He began.

"No, not you Henry it's just, I got lost in thought. Please continue." He coughed and took a deep breathe. Henry stared at him for a moment before deciding to drop it.

"Anyway, I've got big plans. I-I just needs some time to execute them. Besides, maybe doing this can help me cope and move on from everything that's happened, maybe things can even go back to the way they were before. Maybe we'll be able to attract a huge audience and we'll have our second chance at fame." Henry smiled, his eyes faintly glistened. William smiled too. He felt his heart skip a beat. A feeling that he hadn't felt in a while. The shrewd of hope he saw rising up in him, seeing him stare up towards the ceiling, like some sort of movie hero... that was the man he fell in love with. Suddenly reality hit him like a brick wall when he remembered what he mainly planned on talking to him about. He looked to the ground and then back at Henry who obviously drifted off to his dream world again. He felt another feeling build up inside of him, dread.

"Henry, I'm glad to see you hopeful and passionate about something again, but maybe you could worry about this project on the side. We need ideas for the here and the now." William put his arm around his business partner holding close. "I'll support you in this, but you need to understand the reality of the situation. We're losing customers by the day. People are starting to lose interest in what we've got right now. We need small things, small changes or additions that can keep a steady flow of customers coming through, until you can get this project done, and even then, I'm putting a lot faith in your 'new' ideas here. Humans aren't as universally marketable as something like animals. Humans hit too close to home, aren't as colorful as animals. And even if your new animatronics do get some traction, whose to say it'll be a smash hit. It could bring in money but not the type of money we need to cover our losses. So please Henry, let's try to think up some new ideas."

"I knew it," What? Henry scrunched his nose and shoved William away. "I knew that you wouldn't let me have this. That wouldn't let me do what I need to so I can move on. What's wrong with you?! You don't care about how I feel anymore! What happened to the William I knew from years ago! The one that supported me through thick and thin! What happened to that William?!" He had never seen Henry this angry before. His tone and anger struck him hard.

"What are you talking about?" William managed to get out. He was almost scared of the smaller man in front of him.

"Ever since everything has gone downhill, since Sammy disappeared, since Caroline left, since the kids were presumably killed! You've acted indifferent to everything. Like it doesn't faze you! At first I thought you were on a front but now I realize that it's not! You really don't care about any of this. You don't care about my suffering!" Henry's words were like venom.

"Why should I?! You never cared about my suffering!" William spat back. Henry looked confused.

"When? I never remembered you suffering due to anything." It felt like he was stabbed in the heart.

"How do you think I felt when you and Caroline pushed me away! I loved you and you pushed me away! Do you have any idea how I felt after that?!" William shouted, his voice shaky and full of emotion.

"Pushed you away? Wait, are you talking about that time we told you we needed some space during Caroline's pregnancy? William you told us not to worry about it and that we were right." Henry's voice was more quiet than before. Not whispering but not yelling either.

"I said that in the heat of the moment. I was hurting and even crying after that. You pushed me to do horrible things and try to find love from others! Everything that's happened is your fault!"

"William that's not our fault. You didn't tell us, how were we supposed to know- Wait what did you say?" Henry asked. His heart sank...

"What?" he responded back quietly.

"You said you did horrible things? What kind of horrible things?" Henry responded. William didn't respond, his blood was running cold. He shouldn't have said anything.

"William, what did you do?" Henry pressed. William snapped.

"What do you think I did?! I mean what didn't I do?! First I tried moving on but I couldn't! So I tried to find something to fill that void."

Stop!

"So I took him ok! I took Sammy!"

Don't!

"I was going to raise him as my own son! But he wouldn't stop crying. So I... I accidentally... k-killed him. And buried him in my backyard." Henry was shutting down. He began staring, unfocused. He was reclining. He sat down on top of the coffee table.

"I regretted it, I hated myself so much after that. But I couldn't undo what I did. The kids weren't any different... I loved them. I didn't want them to leave. And now they can't." Henry finally looked up at him.

"You killed them.. you killed all of them..." He whispered.

"I didn't want to, but I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't let people keep saying no and pushing me away. I have feelings too y'know. You pushed me away, Sammy pushed me away, the kids didn't want to stay. But I've learned better, I'm not letting people reject me anymore!" William spat, looking directly into Henry's eyes. He saw the fear in Henry's eyes. His body began to shift.

"I should've seen it sooner."

"Don't do it Henry." William warned as Henry began to stand.

"It followed us, it followed me. And yet I had somehow never brought myself to think that the man that went everywhere with me was behind it."

"Don't make me hurt you." He again warned but came out as more of a plead. Henry turned quickly and practically leapt forward, much like a professional athlete, running towards the kitchen to the phone hanging on the wall. William was right behind him. He grabbed his wrist and pulled the weaker man back towards him, he had turned around towards William enough to where he could thrust his other arm forward.

He heard the chunk. Everything stopped in the moment, a moment which felt like forever. Suddenly he was falling. William tried to hold him close while Henry struggled to breathe. He looked down to where his hand was. The shine of the metal blade glistened as it began to be covered in the crimson. Henry coughed as blood streaked down his chin. His eyes looked up towards his business partner.

"William..." He whispered.

"I'm here, I'm here." He responded trying to soothe him.

"William please, listen to me..." He looked into those chocolate brown eyes, those eyes that were losing their light.

"Please promise me, promise me that'll you leave her alone. That you'll leave Charlie alone. My Charlotte."

"Of, of course. Anything for you." His face flushed, while tears gathered in his eyes.

"Please don't follow her, don't talk to her, don't touch her. Spare her please. Spare her from this. Let her live her life in peace."

"Yes- I'll leave her alone, I promise." Tears fell down his face fast and constant.

"And one last thing. Don't let her find me like this. Please, call the police. Let them take care of this. Just don't let her see what's happened to me."

"Alright I'll do it." He sniffed as his nose began to run. He squeezed Henry's head tightly against to his chest.

"I'm sorry Henry, I'm so sorry. I didn't want to do it. I swear I didn't want to do it. I loved you." There was no response. He started to sob. He sobbed for a while there after, before finally deciding to set it up to look like the animatronic was responsible. He called 911 but didn't respond and simply left it hanging. He knew they would come, it's a small town not that many prank callers. But now, he felt it was time to ditch town. He couldn't stay here anymore, not after this.

As he left, he couldn't stop thinking of Henry. Everything they had been through together, every memory haunted him the entire time, from the drive home, to the packing, to the final moments before leaving Hurricane. He thought of his face. A look of fear and concerned look on his face, his chocolate eyes wide, his brown hair hanging... wait, his face began to swirl. It wasn't Henry anymore, it was another face, a similar face. A face that had those chocolate brown eyes, but a wider and more heart shaped look. Messy, long brown hair. It was the same look, but it wasn't him. It wasn't even Caroline either. It... it was a scared, traumatized, young girl. A girl who hadn't even graduated yet. A girl he promised to stay away from, a girl he promised not to look for, a girl he promised not to touch.

That girl wasn't him... He heard her call out to him. And suddenly it was like he had just been brought back to life. He blinked and looked at her.

"Dave, what's wrong?"

… "You're... You're not them.. you're not him."


	12. The End

"What?" She was getting kind of freaked out. What did he mean by that? Why was he acting so weird all the sudden? It reminded her of when she and her friends had tied him up, he seemed to have shut down and wouldn't speak until they put the Spring Bonnie head on him. If he was doing that again, she wondered where he kept the suit. She looked away to survey the room.

"Charlie," She turned back to look at him. "You aren't them. You aren't your parents."

"Yes, I mean no. I mean, Dave what are you talking about?!" She was actually confused now. What was he going on about?

"Keeping you here made me start to give into the illusion that you were like, a piece of them. That you weren't your own person. You look and act so much like them. I... I guess I just wanted to indulge in the feeling of being with them again." He was rubbing his hands in a contemplative manner.

"For years I've done nothing but run away from the past. Retreating to my own fantasies. Suppressing bad memories and thinking of a better time. I loved your parents. I loved them with all my being. But they didn't requite that love. And I made a lot of bad decisions after that." He slid off the bed and looked up at the small window bordering the ceiling, being almost blinded by the white light, as it glowed so heavenly.

"Perhaps thinking about it and imagining myself back in a time where I was actually happy, was my way of coping. But either way, I can't keep you here. I promised your father a long time ago that I would keep my distance. I remember that now, it was the last thing he asked of me. So, it would only be right if I tried to make good on that promise. It's time for you to go back home. Or at least back with your friends." He hung out his hand to her. Her eyes wide and jaw dropped.

"You.. you're serious?" She finally spoke.

"Yes," He replied. "Come on." She stared at his hand. He really has lost it, she thought. However if it meant she could finally leave, to get out of here and back to her friends, then she might as well go along with it. She took his hand and he helped pull her off the bed.

"You might wanna put your shoes on," He pointed down at her sneakers near the end of the bed. She reached down and began slipping on her shoes, all the while Dave grabbed her stuff and his keys.

"I'll drop you off outside of the hotel you were staying at. Then when I'm out of there, I'll call the station and let them know you where you are and that your safe," He explained. "I know everyone is probably worried sick about you."

"And where will you go?" she asked.

"To the only place I can. The only place where there's anybody left waiting for me," He replied looking down. "Now, come on." He started walking towards the door and she followed. They made their through the building and out of the front. Dave put Charlie's stuff into the back and they both got into the car. It was an awkward car ride to say the least. They were both quiet. But then again, what was their to say?

Charlie relegated herself to leaning against the window and watching the familiar scenery pass by. The houses, the parks, the mountains in the distance. Before she knew it, they had arrived back at the hotel. He got out and grabbed her stuff, pulling it out of the car. She opened her door and got out. He pulled her stuff onto the sidewalk out the building before calling her over. She approached him and he told her to stay there.

"Like I said, I'll call them to let them know you're here," he said. "But, this is goodbye forever. I promise you, that you'll never see me again. No one will." He walked back to his car. All she could do was stare. Part of her wanted to say something to him, may be a goodbye, but it wasn't right. This guy was a murderer, a kidnapper, and he ruined everyone's lives. He was a monster. Yet, she almost felt a little bad for him in that moment. She watched as he got back into his car and drove off. Not even giving her a parting glance.

"Goodbye Da-.. William," she muttered.

...

Charlie waited for what felt like forever. She sat on the sidewalk looking down. Even though her car wasn't to far away, she still stayed put, like an obedient dog would. She sighed as the wind blew, making a few of her hairs move with it. Finally her head jerked up when she saw a couple of cop cars pull into the parking lot. She watched as they drove up and stopped in front of her. Doors opened as she was surprised to not only see cops but also her friends. Her eyes widen and she stood up.

"Charlie!" She was being embraced by everyone. She couldn't even register everything that was happening. They were all asking different questions before Clay finally got them to break up.

"We got William's call, he told us you were here- wait, where is he?" He asked looking around.

"He left me here," She replied.

"Do you know where he went?" He asked. She looked down.

"Nevermind, the important part is your safe. Now come on into the car, I'll drive you down to the station where you'll be safe," He said putting his arm around her. He brought her over and helped her into the car.

"What are you kids waiting for?" He asked the rest of them.

"Actually sir, could we drive our own cars back?" Lamar asked, motioning to all of their cars in the lot.

"Alright, but you guys head right over to the station. Got it?" Clay responded.

"Of course sir," Lamar replied as they all nodded. They all got into their cars and all drove back to the station.

He sighed as he shut the door behind him. It felt almost strange being in the Spring Bonnie suit after so long. He had forgotten just how humid and restricting it felt. Not to mention the fact that the last time he wore it, was when he died. He's died in this suit twice, yet he's never feared it. This suit let him pretend he was a different person, that he wasn't William Afton. It let him pretend he was a happy go lucky rabbit that liked to make children smile. Children that he has also killed in this same suit. God he was a monster. But now he has a chance to fix everything.

He reached down and picked up the halfway filled, red plastic, gas can. He walked down the dark hallways of the quiet pizzeria, pouring the clear fluid onto the tile floors. He walked all around to each and every room, coating the floor in it. There could be nothing left, otherwise they'll find something to cling too. He knew despite how much they wanted the suffering to end, they still would try to cling to what's here, thinking that they still needed to kill the one that killed them. But they didn't to worry anymore, they didn't need to cling to anything anymore. They were all going to leave, together.

After dousing every room, he made his way back into the main party room. He stood in front of the stage looking up at the unmoving animatronics that stood there. He scanned their eyes to see if any of them were looking at him, if they were conscious. They weren't. Perhaps it'd be better that way.

"Well everyone, it's been a trip. A terrible, awful, torturous trip," He said, taking out a match box. "We're all that's left of Freddy's, of it's legacy, all of us are it's veterans. And I think we've reached our end. Freddy's over, everyone's moved on, and I think it's time we moved on as well… I used to be scared of what's to come, however, I'm not scared anymore. Because I'm tired of running. Running from my mistakes. It was going to happen eventually, I just ran and hid away, hoping it never would." He lit a match.

"God rest thee innocent children. You deserve freedom from this.. from me. It's probably best, if we all just disappear." He closed his eyes. He let the match fall from his hand, within moments after it fell, fire burst up from the ground. The flames grew tall rather quickly as it crackled loudly in his ears. He hung his head low as the flames slowly continued to consume everything around him.

"Henry, I hope you can forgive me..."

Charlie sat there holding the cup of hot coco, staring into the brown fluid as steam rose from it. Carlton's father Clay, along with a few other cops had shown up and took her back to the station to ask her some questions. The other's had to wait outside, despite their pleas to be with her. She smiled at the thought of them actually caring for her. That there was anybody that really cared about her.

"Don't seem to keen on drinking that hot chocolate," Clay said smiling, trying to break the ice. Charlie looked up and smiled at him.

"Sorry, I'm just not that thirsty," she replied back shakily.

"It's alright," He said. He walked over and took the hot chocolate out of her hands and sat it on his desk. She looked back down.

"Charlie?" Clay said, kneeling down to her level as she sat in the chair. She looked up to him. He pulled out a notepad and a pencil.

"Charlie, I need to take your statement, ok?" he said. She nodded. He smiled and brought a chair over and sat down across from her.

"Some of these questions may be uncomfortable. But we need to ask them to get an understanding of what happened for the records," He continued.

"I know," She replied.

"Alright then, first question. Did William Afton restrain you in any way?" He asked.

"Yes," She responded quietly.

"Did William hit you or cut you?" He asked.

"No," She muttered.

"Did William physically hurt you in any way?" He asked.

"No," She whispered.

"Did William shout at you or did he guilt trip you about anything?" He asked.

"Yes," She said. "We argued but it never escalated that much."

"Alright," He responded. He flipped the page of the notepad.

"Did William... touch you? Touch you in inappropriate ways or places?" He asked.

"No," She whispered. She took a deep breath.

"Did he rape you?" He asked in a more serious tone. "Or insert foreign objects into your body?"

"No," She replied with more certainty.

"Then tell me, what happened while you were with Afton?" He asked sitting up.

"He tied me down to a bed and told me that he wasn't going to let me leave, ever. He said that me being stuck with him was torture enough for me. We argued about how he was restricting my freedoms and how I wasn't a child anymore. However, it seemed that I had actually hurt his feelings." She stated.

"What did he do after the argument?" He asked her.

"He went out and got drunk. I'm assuming that he got back before I woke up the next morning, because I awoke to find him holding me. When he woke up, he rambled drunkenly before he began comparing me to my parents. And then, his whole demeanor changed, after he talked in depth about them." Clay's eyes widen and his eyebrow furrowed. That sounded.. familiar.

"What did he say about your parents?" He pressed.

"He basically told me how they all met, how they open the diner, then he got all silent when it came to our birth," She replied. "Then he started talking about how I wasn't my parents and that he loved them. However apparently he promised my dad he's stay away from me, so he decided to drop me off at the hotel."

"That's.. interesting. So he said he loved your parents," He reiterated.

"Yeah," She responded.

"That lines up with the info we got on him." He stated looking down. "He apparently had romantic and even well, physical desires for them."

"Yeah, I kind of guessed that," She responded in a dry tone.

"Sorry, it's just that 'love' can mean a lot of things," He replied awkwardly before coughing. "So, he let you go because he made a promise to your father?"

"Yeah, apparently my dad told him to stay away from me. However he didn't remember it until just then. So, he decided to drop me off and leave to try and make up for it. At least, that's what I could gather from it."

"I see. Did you know where you were being held?" He asked.

"It was an old apartment complex. I don't know the name though," She responded.

"Alright. I guess we can take a look around. See what we can find," He got back up.

"One last thing Charlie," He spoke. She looked up at him.

"Do you have any idea where he could've gone?" He asked. She stared for a moment, she opened her mouth, getting ready to answer, when-

"Chief!" Both of them looked towards the now opened door.

"Sir, there's been a report of large fire. Western side of town, in the outskirts. Coming from an abandoned mall."

"Freddy's..." Clay muttered. "Alright, I'll grab my stuff. Take Charlie here to the others. She's had a long day."

"Yes sir," the officer walked over to Charlie. "C'mon miss." Clay went over to his desk, gathering his things while Charlie was being escorted. He had no doubts it was William. The question was: Was that bastard still alive?

Everyone's heads raised as they heard the door open. They all jumped up when they saw who it was.

"Charlie!" They all ran up. Marla and Jessica embraced while the boys stayed out of her personal bubble.

"Charlie, oh thank god," Marla said.

"We're so happy you're alright," Jessica spoke.

"Yeah, we were worried that, we'd never see you again," Carlton added.

"Especially after we heard you were taken by that child murdering bastard," Lamar chimed in.

"Charlie," John said. She looked over at him. He moved closer to her.

"John..." She replied. Marla and Jessica let go and moved away from her. Giving them their space.

"Charlie I.. I was worried sick," He told her. "There was never a moment, where I didn't think about you. Even when others tried to distract me from it." A few of them rolled their eyes at his words.

"Somehow, I-I had a feeling that, that was the case," She replied, giving him a smile. He held out his arms apprehensively.

"Can I?-" He started.

"Yes," She replied back, knowing what he was going to say. They walked forward and embraced. Evoking a few awws from the group. Charlie felt so warm in that moment. So happy, warm, and safe. She didn't want it to end. But before she new they broke away. She was smiling so genuinely. She'd never been this happy before. She felt heat rising to her cheeks and her eyes beginning to water. Before she knew it, tears began to run down her face as she continued to laugh even louder.

Everyone else began to laugh and all gathered around to embrace her. It had been so long since they all were together like this, sharing a laugh. But it honestly felt like a day had never passed in that moment. Of course to Charlie, thinking back to the coldness and distance her Aunt kept from her. She could only wonder where this had been all her life.

Clay's heart was beating, despite his inner thoughts telling him to calm down. He was a professional and this was a very dangerous man. He needed to focus on doing his job and doing it well. He couldn't let his emotions get in the way. This could be his one chance to bring that bastard to justice and he can't allow himself to screw up.

"Chief Burke," His radio emitted, the voice muffled through static. He picked it up and pressed the button.

"Yeah?" He responded.

"Chief, were approaching the premises. The fire department has already managed to calm the flames down, when we get there it should be safe enough to scour the wreckage," the voice on the other end said.

"Alright," He responded. "I'm not to far behind I'll be there in a few minutes."

...

When he arrived, he was surprise by just how much smoke was emitting from the abandoned mall. He quickly got of his car and hurried inside a bunch of firefighters were in there making sure the fire was completely out, officers surveying the scene, and all Clay could do was stare. He remembered what Freddy's looked like. The ins and outs of it. To see the building, as this. It was taking it's time syncing in.

Before he knew it, it was almost as if his feet were moving on their own. He walked through the rubble and ashen debris. He looked around, noticing some of things that were still somewhat intact. Some speakers, some plastic toys, decorations all strewn about. His attention was caught by a few metal endoskeletons sticking out of the ash, along with what was left of their costumes. Once he got close enough, he recognized the remains as Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica. Then he saw it. Not too far away from them was an all to familiar animatronic suit.

He approached the limp, burnt up suit, before getting down on a knee and brushing off the soot. It was most certainly the same rabbit suit that they had found all those years ago. Upon closer inspection, he saw burnt flesh underneath the suit.

He did his best to open up the rabbit head in order to see the face. From what it seemed, the rabbit head did a pretty good job protecting his face, as he only needed to take one look and his suspicions proved true.

"So," He muttered. "It IS you." He moved his fingers down to the rabbits exposed neck. The flesh their was burnt, red, and raw. He pressed them into the flesh, checking for a pulse. He waited and waited and waited. Finally he pulled his fingers away and his eyebrows furrowed.

He's dead... He's.. he's actually dead. His heart was beating in his ears. William Afton was dead. After all these years.

"Chief! What is-" The officer ran up but stopped when he saw the body.

"Well, I guess we found our kidnapper. But it seems he didn't want to stick around to explain himself," Clay said turning to the officer.

Charlie and the gang were all packing their bags. They all had spent the night at the Burke household, enjoying their last night together, before getting ready to head back home and go their separate ways. Clay had informed all of them the night prior of what happened to William, and just as he suspected, Charlie was the most shaken. He had offered that they could all stay a bit longer at his place, but they all agreed that their families were probably anxiously waiting for him to return home. After all, they had all left Hurricane for a reason. But now, that reason was gone.

Charlie seemed zoned out the entire time she packed. She stood their faced towards the bed as the suitcase laid on her bed. In her hands she held the journals of her father. The others gave them to her as they had found them at his house. Charlie was fixated on the old, brown leather books while she was deep in her thoughts.

So many things happened over the course of a couple of days. She learned a lot as well, finally getting the answers to what she's wondered for so many years. The others told her about what Mr. Burke had said. About how they found William's obsessive writings about her parents, how he was in love with them. Which of course, only further confirmed what he told her. She thought deeply about what he said to her while she was with him, the way he projected those feelings onto her.

Then she remembered back to when they had tied him up, in what she guessed was now an alternate timeline. How they were interrogating him for information as to what happened. Then she remembered, how he just turned to look at her. The blank stare as he leaned closer to her. And then hearing those words that still echoed in her head.

'Oh, you're something beautiful aren't you?' She remembered how freaked out and kind of creeped out she was at the time. How she had no idea what he meant and felt it just came out of nowhere. But now, it made so much sense. He said she was something beautiful, because to him, she was. She was her parents daughter. A manifestation of their love. Of them. She looked a lot like them and supposedly acted a lot like them too. Not that she would know. She barely knew her parents, her aunt never told her anything, one of them was dead, and the other kept her distance.

Perhaps that should change...

"Hey Charlie?" Charlie jumped. She looked back over to Marla who was standing in the doorway.

"Yeah," She responded.

"You almost done?" She asked.

"Yeah, yeah," She said turning back to shove the journals into the suitcase and zip it up.

"Everyone's already packed and waiting downstairs for you," she continued.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I was just.. deep in thought," She replied, gathering her stuff together.

"I can see that," Marla said. She looked down for a moment before looking back up to her.

"Charlie?" Marla asked. "Are you going to be alright heading home? Do you think you're well enough to drive?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine," She replied.

"Well Charlie, I guess it was nice getting to see you again," Marla spoke. "Even though it was for a day before you got kidnapped by a deranged serial killer who murdered dozens of children." Charlie smiled as she finally got everything in order. She turned around to Marla, holding everything the best she could.

"Hey, Marla. This doesn't have to be goodbye forever y'know. In fact, we all should started talking again. We can all start writing letters again, or we can email each other, or even call," Charlie stated.

"Yeah, I guess so. It's been a while since I've written a letter. I think my mom will have to reteach me," She joked. "And as soon as I get my hands on a computer, I'll be sure to shoot you an email." She winked. Charlie smiled as they walked out the room together and made their way downstairs. Just like Marla said, everyone was waiting for them. Even Mr and Mrs. Burke.

Charlie was confused for a moment as to why Carlton didn't have any bags with him, but then she remembered that he lived here. They all walked out the driveway before saying their goodbyes and giving each other hugs. Mr. Burke told them all to drive home safely. Or in the case of Jessica, fly home safely. They all got into their cars and Charlie made them all promise to send letters or emails or calls. After they all had left, Mr. Burke drove Charlie back to the hotel and parked near her car. She unbuckled her seat belt before he stopped her.

"Now Charlie, you sure you're alright to drive yourself home?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," she said. She opened the door and got out. She closed it, before opening the back door to grab her stuff.

"Alright, but listen, if you ever need someone to talk to," He said, pulling out a card. "Call my friend Diane. She's an expert on helping people deal with these types of things." She smiled.

"Thank you Mr. Burke," She said, taking the card from him.

"Please, call me Clay," he responded, smiling back. "And good luck Charlie. Don't forget to write. Carlton's gonna miss you guys."

"I won't," She promised. "Goodbye Clay."

"Goodbye Charlie." Charlie shut the door and walked over to her car. She open the back door and put her stuff in, before shutting it. She got into the front seat and started the ignition. She looked over one last time and gave him a wave. He waved back. She smiled before she put the gear into reverse and backed out of her parking spot, then driving away. All the while, Clay watched, making sure she got out safely. It was going to be a long drive home, so she might as well get comfortable.

...

When she did finally return home, Aunt Jen was actually sort of happy to see her, but tried her best to act like she wasn't. Without hesitation, she told her that William Afton was dead and how they never had to worry about him again. Without even needing to explain herself, Aunt Jen seemed to know exactly what she meant and gave a simple nod. Then Charlie asked her for her mothers number, which Jen responded with telling her that her number was on the fridge.

Charlie took the number upstairs with her to her bedroom, where she picked up her phone and dialed it. It rung and rung before finally.

"Hello?"

"Mom.. I think we need to talk about some things."


End file.
